Prisoner
by modaprincesa
Summary: They don't know how they got there, but they're all they have now. What will happen when forced to coexist? DMHG, 6th year, pre HBP and DH
1. Prologue

**Note**: This is based before HBP and Deathly Hallows!

Disclaimer: I don't own it, it's not mine.

Chapter 1: Prologue

- - - - - - - - - -

_Her eyes opened slowly, "You!" she exclaimed in the strongest voice she could._

_His eyes drifted open and he looked over at the form lying broken on the ground, "You can't blame me for this; you're not the only prisoner."_

_"Why am I here?" she tried to sit up but found she was too weak._

_"I don't even know why I'm here, Granger…" he paused for a moment, "And I don't really know where here is."_

- - - - - - - - - -

It was August 31st as Hermione sat packing her trunk with Harry and Ron at the Burrow.

"It's been a short summer," Ron sighed.

"Maybe for you it has," Harry said, rummaging around the floor for his broom servicing kit, which had been put to much use in the past few weeks.

Harry had been very moody that whole summer, to which Hermione and Ron were quite understanding, since Harry had lost his godfather at the end of the previous year.

Hermione cleared her throat uncertainly, "Well it will be nice to be back at Hogwarts with everyone, won't it?"

"I guess," Harry said.

Hermione and Ron shared a look and went back to packing their things.

"Dinner's ready!" Mrs. Weasley called up the stairs.

"We'll be right down," Ron called back as he haphazardly threw some more clothes into his trunk.

"You'll never be able to find some of that again, Ronald." Hermione remarked as she watched him.

"If I need it enough I'll be able to," he smiled back at her.

"Come on, we should get to dinner," Harry said, standing up.

Hermione and Ron followed him downstairs and everyone took their seats at the table. Ron, Harry, Hermione and Ginny were the only ones left at the Burrow this year since everyone else had already moved out to work.

"Where's Ginny?" Hermione asked as she scooped some potatoes onto her plate.

"I expect she'll be down soon, she was just finishing up some cleaning for me," Mrs. Weasley told her, passing the pitcher of pumpkin juice to her husband who had just joined the table.

"I'm coming!" they heard Ginny call as she hopped down the stairs with her arms full of clothes, "Last minute washing," she said cheerily, dropping them on a chair to worry about later. She took a seat next to Harry and started loading her plate with food.

Ginny's presence always eased everyone's moods because she seemed to keep Harry happy.

Everyone talked and laughed as they enjoyed their last dinner together before they left for Hogwarts in the morning.

- - - - - - - - - -

Draco lay in the corner of his dark room staring at the ceiling, thinking about the events of his summer.

It had all started off so well. He would wake up late, spend the day flying around or with his girlfriend, Pansy Parkinson, then at night he would attend Death Eater meetings with his father. Draco was as scared of these meetings as he was fascinated.

He didn't want anything to do with The Dark Lord, yet the magic He knew was mesmerizing to him. Draco would sit as far from The Dark Lord as possible but hang on his every word. Sometimes the punishments he would watch would make him wonder how he could learn it, even though he didn't ever think he'd want to use it.

Draco felt that he would rather watch and learn than do. For the first month everything had been fine. And then… everything just… fell apart. First his father decided that Draco's days would be better spent studying than relaxing so he would be shut in the Malfoy library for four hours in the afternoon. After a couple of weeks of this, Draco found out the Pansy could not handle him being away from her for so long and had cheated on him repeatedly.

Finally the one thread of his life that he was forced to hang onto broke as well. One evening he was sitting in the circle of Death Eaters watching The Dark Lord torture some innocent muggle when The Dark Lord turned to him.

_"Young Mr. Malfoy," __he grinned maliciously, "I believe it is time you proved your worth to me."_

_Draco felt his heart rate increase tenfold as he looked questioningly back at The Dark Lord._

_"You have watched and learned, but I think it is time you showed me that you are capable of the things I expect from you."_

_Draco felt his palms start to sweat as he stood up, "What is it you want me to do, master?"_

_The Dark Lord walked slowly around the circle as he talked, "It is simple, this __muggle__ will die tonight, but there is no reason for me to waste my time on it. It is now your job."_

_"But…" Draco stammered, "Why are we bothering to kill him?"_

_The Dark Lord turned to Draco, "He is a __muggle__ and of no use to us. What will it matter? This, young Malfoy, is your initiation__, and your chance to regain the respect your family once had__."_

_Draco saw his father look hopefully at him as he pulled his wand out of his pocket._

_"I think that a little torture before he goes will be sufficient," The Dark Lord hissed._

_Draco took a deep breath as he __rose__ his shaky hand to point his wand at the defenseless __muggle_

_"Stop, please!" the __muggle__ exclaimed, "Don't do this! I have a family!"_

_Draco tried to block out the man's voice as he summoned up his courage, "__Crucio__!"__ he shouted._

_The __muggle__ writhed for a moment and cried out._

_"Cause pain, Draco, he is no use to us," The Dark Lord said, noticing weakness._

_Draco took a deeper breath and tried to steady his hand, "__Crucio__!" he said, louder this time._

_The man screamed in agony as he squirmed on the floor._

_Draco heard many people around him jeering and laughing; he felt light-headed._

_Draco__ looked over to the Dark Lord, "Finish him off," he said, red eyes glinting._

_He__ turned his eyes back to the man, "Av-__Avada__…"_

_"Do it!"_

_Draco tried again, and again, and again and he just could not do it._

_"Pathetic," The Dark Lord spat, standing up._

_"__Avada __Kedavra__!" he pointed his wand at the __muggle__. In a flash of green light all terror was gone from the vacant eyes staring up at him._

_"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy, you have just confirmed my next plan of action," The Dark Lord turned from him, "Lucius, in the past few months your entire family has let me down after all I have done for you. In due time, you will pay the price. This meeting is over."_

From that point on Draco had been told to stay away from the meetings and had been ignored and abandoned by his father. At first, Draco would try to ask what had happened at the meetings.

"It's none of your concern," Lucius would answer.

Though Lucius looked collected from the outside, Draco would pass him in the lounge once in a while and see how miserable he looked.

This is why Draco had spent the better part of the last month locked up in his room, having his meals delivered to him.

Finally, it was August 31st as Draco sat, all packed, on his bed once again.

He had decided that when he went back to school he would retain his position as the ruler of Slytherin, since none of the others knew about that summer, and he would act as if everything were normal. After all, he had a status to maintain.

Draco fell into another restless sleep that night more than ready to return to Hogwarts, where he could escape the monotonous life he had been living the past few months.

- - - - - - - - - -

**A/N:** Hello, hello!! I had so much fun writing Through Her (which, if you haven't read, you should ;) ) that I couldn't help but write a new one! this is my second big story and has nothing to do with my last one! I hope this first chapter has intrigued you so far, I pretty much know my plot and hope it will keep everyone's interest throughout!

I am on my winter break from college so over the next few weeks I should be getting chapters out pretty quickly, and after that I'll do the best I can!

_Please review_, it really truly helps !

Jenny


	2. Sixth Year

**Chapter 2**: Sixth Year

...

It was difficult for the four of them to find a compartment together, but eventually they caught an empty one. They put their trunks away and settled into their seats.

"I'm glad O.W.L.'s are over," Ron sighed, closing his eyes.

"Oh Ron, they weren't so bad," Hermione said.

"Don't start talking about school, this is _my_ O.W.L. year and I'd rather not think about it yet," Ginny whined.

"They really weren't too bad," Harry said, "I mean my grades may not have been top notch for some of the tests, but the workload wasn't too terrible."

"That's because Hermione did most of it for you," Ginny grinned.

"That's a fair statement," Ron nodded.

"Well either way, it's not too bad," Hermione said.

"I can't wait for the feast," Ron rubbed his stomach.

"Oh yeah? Your mum can't afford food anymore, Weasley?" came the snide voice of Draco Malfoy as he leaned in the doorway, followed by the unintelligent laughs of Crabbe and Goyle.

Harry and Ron both stood up and pulled out their wands, "Get out of here, Malfoy," Harry warned.

"What are you going to do, _Potter_?"

"Bugger off," Ron said.

"When did you find some courage?" Draco cocked an eyebrow.

"Obviously before _you_ found some brains," Ginny narrowed her eyes.

"Just leave us alone," Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Feisty," Draco said.

"Look, we don't have breath to waste on you today, get out," Hermione said, glaring at him.

"You know, Mudblood, the only thing wasted is magical talent on something so dirty."

Within seconds, four different spells were all aimed at Draco, causing him to fall to the floor.

"Take him out of here," Harry said, pointing his wand threateningly at the two oafs standing in the doorway.

Crabbe and Goyle hastily picked up the unconscious Draco and dragged him out the door towards their compartment.

"Bloody git," Ron said heatedly.

"Just forget it, Ron," Hermione said, laying a hand on his shoulder.

Harry closed the door and they all sat back down.

"Well he hasn't changed much," Ginny commented, looking sideways at the others.

Harry leaned back, looking out the window as the train rolled along the countryside.

"I personally think we should just ignore him this year," Hermione said.

"I personally think we should curse him into oblivion," Ron countered.

"That could work," Ginny agreed.

"You know, I bet they've already inducted him into the ring of Death Eaters," Harry said.

"What makes you say that," Hermione asked.

"Just the way he struts around," Harry shrugged.

"He's too young, probably not powerful enough for… You-Know-Who," Ron said.

"Well at least it would give us a reason to be able to curse him," Harry suggested.

"No," Hermione said, "I'm going to try to keep you boys out of trouble this year."

"Good luck," Ginny snorted.

...

Draco opened his eyes to see Crabbe and Goyle hunched over him.

"Get… away…" he said slowly.

They both stepped away to give him some air as he sat up.

"You… uh… alright?" Goyle stammered.

"Fine," Draco said shortly, pushing himself up in his seat.

Just then, Pansy opened the door to their compartment. She spotted Crabbe and smiled, "Any room in this compartment?"

Draco's eyes narrowed.

"Uh…" Crabbe answered.

Pansy looked around the compartment and spotted Draco.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't see you here. How was the rest of your summer?" she said uncertainly.

"Get out," he said, his eyes burning into her.

"Look, Draco, I think we should talk."

"I don't think there's anything that needs to be said."

Pansy turned to the others, "Could you give us a minute?"

They both nodded, leaving the compartment faster than they'd ever probably moved in their lives.

"Draco, this summer was…"

"A nightmare," Draco finished, "Most of that thanks goes to you."

"You have to understand, I mean, I didn't even get to see you anymore after your father made you start staying home everyday… it was just hard," Pansy said lamely.

"No shit it was hard," Draco said, "But you didn't see me sleeping with other people."

"If you give me another chance…"

"To _what_?!" Draco burst out, standing up.

"To… to… I mean, it wouldn't happen again…"

"Save your breath," Draco said, his voice dangerously calm, "I know better than to believe that. Get out of my sight. We're over Pansy, for good."

Pansy shakily backed over to the door, "I'm sorry," she said tearfully.

"No, you're not," Draco shook his head, "Go."

Pansy walked out, closing the door behind her.

Draco sank back into his seat and looked out the window. It was getting dark; they must be close by now.

...

Everyone waited patiently as the first years were sorted into their houses before the beginning of term feast. Gryffindor had gained a good number of new students.

As soon as the food appeared on the table, Ron jumped forward and grabbed everything he could get his hands on to throw on his plate.

"Haven't ate in a few months?" Ginny cocked an eyebrow.

"I'm not wasting the opportunity to gorge myself, besides, I've missed Hogwarts cooking," Ron defended himself.

"You mean the house elves' cooking," Hermione pointed out.

"Yeah," Ron rolled his eyes, "That."

"I can't believe it's finally sixth year," Harry said, "It doesn't seem like it's been that long."

"I know, it's gone by fast," Hermione nodded.

"Do you think we'll get a little time to relax this year?" Ron asked.

"If you stay up on your work then you will," Hermione smiled.

"So, no then," Ginny told Ron.

They all sat and talked for a bit while they ate, thinking about what the next year would entail.

...

"So… sixth year," came the voice of Blaise Zabini as he sat down next to Draco.

"Where've you been?" Draco asked, turning his glare from Pansy to face his best friend.

"Around," Blaise said, winking at a girl down the table.

"You missed the nice little reunion of Pansy and I."

"Ah," Blaise said, his face becoming more serious, "Sorry mate. What happened?"

"We had words- well, really I had words."

"Things are over for good then?"

"Oh yes," Draco threw another glare down the table, "I don't need that little whore around me anyways."

"I told you from the beginning she was no good," Blaise shook his head.

"Right… so anyways, sixth year… you were saying?" Draco said, changing the subject.

"Got any plans for the year?" Blaise asked.

"Not really… just another year to me."

"Ah yes, with your big plans the Dark Lord probably has for you in the future…" Blaise joked.

Draco lowered his voice, "I don't think that's going to happen."

Blaise looked questioningly at him.

"Long story, but I had a rough summer," Draco said.

"I thought you may have since I stopped seeing you halfway through it."

"Father kept me locked up in the library for most of it and then… well I'll explain later."

"Right. So any run-ins with anyone other than Pansy yet?"

"Stopped in to bother the Golden Trio on the train ride," Draco shrugged.

"How'd that go," Blaise asked.

"Oh I got under their skin a bit," Draco answered.

They grinned at each other before deciding it was time to head to the dungeons to settle in.

...

"You called for me, master," Lucius Malfoy said as he walked slowly over to the hooded figure looking out the window.

"You have been of no use to me these past few months, and you know what happens to those of no use to me," The Dark Lord hissed.

"But master… I… I can do something… anything… please don't-"

"Oh I'm not going to kill you, Lucius," The Dark Lord cut him off, "But your family will suffer."

"Please is there something I can do?"

"You can learn from your mistakes. I will give you your task and you will ask no questions and do as I say."

"Yes, master," Lucius bowed his head, hoping that whatever he had to do would put him back in the Dark Lord's good graces.


	3. Paranoia?

Disclaimer: Not me, not now… I don't own any rights to Harry Potter.

Chapter 3: Paranoia?

- - - - - - - - - -

Hermione woke up early the next morning. It was the first day of classes and she was excited to be starting some new subjects.

She jumped in the shower, letting the hot water take her away for a minute as she relaxed. Although she knew she should feel happy today, for some reason she felt on edge. As she stepped out of the shower, she tried to clear her mind and tell herself that it was just nerves.

She got dressed and went down to the common room to wait for Harry and Ron who, undoubtedly, were not awake yet.

She sat down in her favorite chair by the fire place and looked out the window. It was a beautiful day out; the summer air was still fresh on the grounds.

She felt her neck tingle and she shivered; she felt as though someone were watching her. Hermione looked around the common room, but there was no one there. She looked outside and still didn't see anyone. Shaking her head, she closed her eyes again, _Maybe a little nap would do me some good_, she thought to herself.

- - - - - - - - - -

Draco lay in bed that morning looking up at the emerald green canopy over his head. He hadn't slept the night before but found he wasn't an ounce tired. He had gotten so used to not sleeping over the summer that it didn't bother him anymore.

Before he had gone to bed he told Blaise about his summer and about what had happened with the Death Eater meeting and with his father. Blaise had looked uneasy at the end of his speech, but Draco had cut him off before he said anything by saying he was tired and they would talk in the morning.

Now as he lay on his bed, he heard Blaise moving around outside his hangings and he knew that it wouldn't be long before he came to talk to him. He closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep as Blaise walked over to his bed and opened the hangings.

"Morning," Draco said, his eyes still closed.

"Okay, so I've been thinking," Blaise sat down, "This isn't good."

"Really?" Draco said sarcastically, "Because I thought maybe The Dark Lord would throw me a surprise party soon."

"Knock it off, Drake, seriously, this is really bad. Do you think it's possible that he's going to do something to your family?"

"Oh I think it's more probable than possible," Draco said nonchalantly.

"You're not going to do anything about it, are you?" Blaise asked.

"Nope," he answered, "Nothing I can do. There's no getting in the way of The Dark Lord's plans."

"Do you think he would… do something to you?"

Draco opened his eyes and looked over at Blaise, "I doubt it, I mean, it would be more useful to get my father, wouldn't it?"

Blaise looked uncertainly back at him, "I guess so."

"Right well we've started off the day well, I'm going to get ready for class."

"Just watch yourself, Drake," Blaise told him.

"I'll do what I can… hopefully it's not me he wants," Draco said as he walked out the door towards the showers.

Draco took a cool shower, hoping it would help to wake him up for the day. He felt odd today, but it was probably because of his lack of sleep and his conversation with Blaise.

There was no way The Dark Lord would waste his time on Draco, it was his father that had caused Him more grief than Draco. Still, he felt distracted as he finished his shower and went back to change.

Luckily he returned to an empty room so he didn't have to deal with talking to people.

He looked out the window; it seemed to be a beautiful day. He looked out into the Forbidden Forest and was unnerved to see the branch of a tree swinging as if someone had just brushed past it.

_It's nothing_, Draco thought, _Just__ the wind or something_.

He finished getting ready and headed down to breakfast, after which, he was sure, he would feel a little better.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Hermione?" Harry whispered, shaking her lightly.

Hermione jumped, her eyes popping open.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Harry said, "Just seeing if you wanted to grab some breakfast."

"Yeah," Hermione said, her heart beating fast, "Sorry, must have dozed off."

"Are you alright?" Ron asked as he walked down the stairs towards them.

"Fine," Hermione smiled meekly, "Just a little jumpy today."

"Is something bothering you?" Harry asked.

"Not really, I just woke up feeling… I don't know… just off I guess."

"Well let's go eat, classes start today, I'm sure that will make you feel better," Ron grinned.

Hermione got up and glanced out the window again. The sun was brightly shining over the grounds and everything looked calm; there was nothing wrong.

"Right," she grinned back, following them out of the common room.

- - - - - - - - - -

"_Double Potions?!_" Ron complained loudly.

Harry groaned next to him, "And History of Magic."

"Well I start Arithmancy today," Hermione smiled, looking down at her time sheet.

Harry groaned louder, "_Divination_."

They ate their breakfast and headed off to the dungeons to avoid being late. When they arrived, there was a line of people already outside the classroom.

"We're with the Slytherins _again_," Ron said moodily.

"It's sad they're still letting hopeless students take this course," Draco said rather loudly as he saw the Golden Trio walk over.

"_Ignore him!_" Hermione whispered.

"Is that a new cauldron, Weasel?" Draco said.

Ron's ears reddened and he looked murderous.

"No, then?" Draco smirked, "Too expensive?"

"Back off," Ron threatened.

Draco's smirk widened, "Just curious."

"Silence," came the voice of Severus Snape, "Inside."

Everyone filed into the room and took their seats.

"Today we will be making the Draught of Peace potion as review from last year," Snape said, tapping his wand on the blackboard as the instructions popped up.

"Alright, I'll get the ingredients, Ron," Hermione said.

"Right, I'll… wait for you."

Hermione rolled her eyes and left to grab her ingredients.

"Hurry up, Mudblood," Draco said as he waited behind Hermione at the supply cabinet.

Hermione took a deep breath and bit her tongue as she grabbed her last ingredient and glared at him as she walked away.

Draco returned to his seat next to Blaise with his ingredients.

The class worked quietly for about ten minutes as they set up their stations and added some of their first ingredients.

"Alright, Ron you need to crush this moonstone into a fine powder, Hermione said as she stirred the contents in their potion.

"How many?" Ron asked.

"Four."

Ron crushed up the moonstone as fine as he could and added them to the potion. It immediately turned a deep shade of fuchsia.

"It should be yellow..." Hermione read off the board.

"I crushed them as small as I could and I used five, just like you said."

"…four, Ronald… four moonstones," Hermione said, taking another deep breath.

Draco looked over at their unfortunate potion, "Nicely done, Weasley, if you ever wanted to kill someone, you may have just made the potion for it."

"Maybe I'll try it out of you," Ron retorted, his anger mounting.

"Look, Ron, we'll just… um…" Hermione said, flipping through her book.

"Maybe you should trade him in, Mudblood, he's no use anyways."

Blaise grinned and shook his head, _Here__ it goes._

"Okay, shut your mouth, Malfoy, It's none of your business!" Hermione burst.

"Silence!" Snape bellowed, walking slowly to the front of the classroom, "If you cannot cooperate in the groups you have picked, then I will change them for you. Mr. Weasley, you will work with Mr. Zabini and Ms. Granger, you will work with Mr. Malfoy."

Hermione looked incredulously back at her professor, "But sir-" she said.

"Do you want detention, Ms. Granger?" he asked as he vanished both cauldrons.

"…No, sir."

"You will move to your newly assigned group."

Hermione picked up her books and moved them to Draco's table as she and Blaise switched spots.

"Don't mess this up, Mudblood," Draco said quietly.

"Don't talk to me," Hermione replied, "You do step one and I'll work on step two."

"No, you do step one and _I'll_ work on step two," Draco said.

"You are incorrigible," Hermione replied, putting their cauldron on to simmer as she measured the syrup of Hellebore to add.

They didn't speak until they had finished their potion, which had turned the perfect shade of light green.

"Perfect," Hermione smiled, putting a scoop of the potion into the vile.

"Bring it up," Draco said.

"Don't tell me what to do," Hermione snapped.

"Common sense, Granger, put it in a vile and take it up."

"You don't have to tell me what to do, I know."

"Then go."

Hermione looked at him sharply before turning on her heel and bringing the vile to the front of the classroom to hand in. She returned to her seat and crossed her arms, looking around the room.

Ron and Blaise's potion had turned an odd shade of turquoise and was hissing slightly.

Hermione smiled sympathetically at Ron as he capped up his vile and walked to the front of the room to hand in the vile.

"Upsetting, Weasley, you still can't get a single potion right," Snape looked down his long nose at the potion, "My apologies, Mr. Zabini."

The rest of the class finished up their potions and brought them up to the table. When everyone had returned to their seats, Snape addressed the class, "Most of your potions are average. Your homework for next class is to have a one foot essay ready to hand in to me on the effects of the syrup of hellebore in the Draught of Peace potion. Class is dismissed."

Hermione stood up and packed her things.

"It was a pleasure working with you," Draco said sarcastically, "Hopefully I'll never have to be that close to you again."

He turned and left the classroom with Blaise as Hermione's eyes burned into the back of his head.

"Well that was awful," Ron said as he walked over to her.

"I'm sorry," Harry said as he joined them.

"Let's just go," Hermione said, slinging her bag over her shoulder and walking out the door.

- - - - - - - - - -

When they returned to Gryffindor Tower, Hermione went up to her room to drop off her things.

She froze as she reached her bed. Again she had the feeling that someone was watching her. She looked around the room and found it empty. She looked out the window and still, no one was there. For some reason the Forbidden Forest looked even less inviting today. A chill went down her spine and she decided her best bet was to be around Harry and Ron so she turned and went back downstairs.

The rest of the day went by alright, classes were all relatively simple as it was the first day and they returned that night to relax in the common room before everyone headed off to bed for some well-deserved sleep.

- - - - - - - - - -

"You are priceless," Blaise grinned as they lay down on their beds that night.

"What?" Draco asked innocently.

"Potions this morning," Blaise looked over at him, "That was hilarious!"

"What fun is Hogwarts if I can't make someone's day miserable?" he smirked at his friend.

Blaise laughed, "Get some sleep, Drake I'll see you in the morning."

"'Night," Draco answered, closing his hangings and putting his hands behind his head.

He had the strangest feeling as if he wasn't alone. He looked around at the room; it looked empty. All of a sudden his hangings were drawn back and before he could say anything, someone touched him and he felt a familiar pull behind his bellybutton.

- - - - - - - - - -

As Hermione lay in bed she couldn't help but feel paranoid. All day she had felt strange and even tonight she still felt uneasy. She turned over towards the wall and tried to get comfortable. It had been a good day and it was certainly nice to be back with her friends.

She saw a shadow on the wall of a person outside her bed. She turned over to see who it was, but before she could make out the person, something touched her and she felt a pull behind her bellybutton.

- - - - - - - - - -

**A/N:** And there you have chapter 3 ! I hope you all enjoyed, consider this a Christmas present!!

_Please review_, it would make a great present for me !

Jenny


	4. Prisoners

Disclaimer: Own it I do not, mine it isn't.

Chapter 4: Prisoners

- - - - - - - - - -

Draco opened his eyes; he was lying on a cold stone floor. There was little light— just two torches sitting on opposite sides of the small room. He looked around; there was no obvious door that he could see.

He heard something move in the other corner and instinctively reached for his wand. His hand groped his pocket uselessly; it was gone. It was dark so he tried to move closer. He found this task hard, everything ached and he groaned as he stood up. Using the wall for support he slowly made his way over to the figure.

"_Fuck_," he said under his breath.

Lying on the floor was Hermione.

He sat down, too weak to walk all the way back to his original position, and leaned his head against the wall. He had a searing pain in his side and his head felt like it was about to explode.

_What am I going to do_, he thought to himself. There was no door and no window, he had no wand, and at this point, he had no hope.

He heard Hermione shift next to him and he sighed.

Her eyes opened slowly, "You!" she exclaimed in the strongest voice she could.

His eyes drifted open and he looked over at the form lying broken on the ground, "You can't blame me for this; you're not the only prisoner."

"Why am I here?" she tried to sit up but found she was too weak.

"I don't even know why I'm here, Granger…" he paused for a moment, "And I don't really know where here is."

"How did we get here?" she asked.

"Oh I threw you over my shoulder and carried you," he said sarcastically.

"Cut it out, Malfoy, seriously, how did we get here?"

"If I knew, Granger," he said, trying to keep his voice steady, "Then I would be trying to get out."

Hermione's eyes scanned the room; there wasn't a _thing_ in there. No chairs, no doors, no windows, no paintings, just concrete walls and a cold concrete floor.

"But why-"

"Granger," Draco cut across her scathingly, "I don't know why we're here, where we are, who brought us here, or how. It _wasn't_ me so I _couldn't_ tell you even if I wanted to."

He leaned his head back again since it was now throbbing harder than before.

Hermione opened her mouth; then closed it again, contemplating.

"Look, Malfoy," she said pointedly after a minute, "You can lose the bloody attitude, I don't know what the hell happened and I'm _just_ trying to figure things out."

Hermione moved her arm underneath her, wincing at the pain in her shoulder as she pushed herself into a sitting position against the wall. She breathed heavily, "Why do I hurt so badly?" she said more to herself than to Draco.

"I don't know what they did to us," Draco flinched as he ran his hand down his side to find where the pain was, "But I think I broke a rib."

"I'm guessing I shouldn't bother looking for my wand," Hermione said, not as a question, but a statement.

"I wouldn't bother."

"Why did they take you?"

"Haven't the foggiest."

"But I thought you were… well…" she stammered, trying to find the right phrase, "_One of them_."

"No," he said bluntly, "Maybe you shouldn't make assumptions about things you don't know."

"Oh because it was such a bold assumption without _any_ evidence, huh," she bit back.

"Don't act like you know everything."

"I never said I did," she said as she adjusted herself in the corner to lean her head on the wall next to her.

They were both quiet, absorbed in their own thoughts and, eventually, both drifted back into a restless sleep.

- - - - - - - - - -

Harry woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. He had gotten a long night's sleep, putting him in quite a good mood. He looked at the bed next to him where Ron was still sleeping, his body haphazardly sprawled out over the bed and snoring loudly.

Harry grinned, not bothering to wake his best friend as he walked to the showers. When he returned a good bit later, he found that Ron had not moved an inch.

"_Ron_," he said quietly, trying not to wake the others.

Nothing.

"_Ron!"_ he said a little louder, shaking him lightly.

This earned him a grunt as Ron rolled over onto his back.

"_Ron!_" Harry said shaking him harder.

"Hmph…" Ron answered, slowly opening one eye.

"Get up," Harry told him, "I'm hungry."

After Ron had finally gotten up and dressed, the boys headed down to breakfast.

"Have you seen Hermione yet this morning?" Ron asked with a yawn.

"Not yet, I suppose she's probably at the library or something," Harry shrugged.

Ron nodded, grabbing a fruit tart and adding it to his pile of food.

"Good morning," Ginny smiled as she sat down next to Harry.

"Hey," they both replied, Harry with a sheepish grin.

"I'm dreading my first day of Potions," Ginny said.

"Oh don't worry," Ron said sarcastically, "It's only Snape and he's only a little worse than he was last year."

Ginny sighed, "I suppose I should look forward to that."

"Have you seen Hermione this morning?" Harry asked.

"Nope, I figured she was down here. I didn't even think to check her room, she usually doesn't sleep this late," she said looking confused, "Is something wrong?"

"No, just curious; we haven't seen her yet today, that's all," Harry said.

"I'm sure we'll find her eventually," Ginny replied nonchalantly as she reached around Ron to get the butter.

The friends finished breakfast and headed off to their classes.

- - - - - - - - - -

Harry and Ron were a few minutes early to Herbology and were surprised to see that Hermione wasn't there yet.

"Morning Neville," Harry said, as he and Ron set their bags down at Neville's table.

"Oh, hey guys," he said, flipping through their new Herbology book, "Where's Hermione?"

"I'm sure she'll be here soon," Ron said, looking around.

Halfway through the lesson, Hermione still had not showed up and Harry and Ron started to worry.

"She never misses class, especially when it's the first day," Ron whispered as he put down his quill.

"Maybe she's sick?" Harry replied uncertainly.

- - - - - - - - - -

Hermione shifted slightly, trying to find a comfortable position. Her neck was starting to ache from the angle it was forced to maintain and her back was not happy with the hard concrete.

She heard Draco curse a few times as he also tried to find a new position. Hermione finally decided to try lying down; she took off her sweater and used it as a pillow. It wasn't the most comfortable, but it was better on her back than the wall.

Draco watched Hermione out of the corner of his eye as she took off her sweater and lay down. He scoffed at her ability to try and make the best out of the situation. He crossed his arms and legs and closed his eyes again.

All of a sudden a figure appeared with a loud _POP_ in the room.

Draco and Hermione both jumped and tried their best to get to their feet.

The figure moved into the light. The first thing both noticed was the malicious grin plastered on its face.

"Who are you?" Draco said clearly.

"Young Mr. Malfoy," the figure hissed, "You're not in the position to ask questions."

Draco shuddered; he knew that voice.

"You _should_ know the reason you are here," he said directly to Draco, "If you cannot handle the tasks I give you then _you are no use to me_… and you know what happens to people who are of no use to me."

"But why me?" Draco asked, "Why not my father?"

"He can be more useful to me than you can. He is currently out doing just that at this moment."

"Why am I here?" Hermione finally found her voice; she also knew who stood in that very room with them.

"You?" Lord Voldemort spat, "You are a Mudblood who deserves to be here. You are one of Harry Potter's best friends. _You_… are useful to me."

"They'll come looking for us," Hermione said strongly.

Voldemort stepped closer to her, "You're lucky I don't kill you right now," he said to himself, "_Crucio_"

Hermione screamed as she fell to her knees and shook violently.

Even though there was no smile on his face, Voldemort's eyes glinted as he watched her pain. He felt powerful. After a minute he took the curse off.

"They won't be looking for you for quite a while, silly girl." The grin returned to his face as he took a few steps back to address both of them, "For now you will live as my plan goes into action. Neither of you should get your hopes up for a hero."

With one last menacing look, he vanished with another _POP_.

Draco looked over at Hermione who was still on the ground, shaking. He averted his eyes and sat back down against the wall. He heard quiet sobs coming from the corner and rolled his eyes, _I've had worse curses thrown at me_.

Hermione hugged her knees to her chest as she sat in the corner, "Wh-what did he mean… th-they won't be l-looking for us?" she asked.

"I don't know," Draco answered, annoyed.

"They will," she said quietly, "I know they will."

- - - - - - - - - -

Later that night in the common room, Harry and Ron sat near the fire place with concerned looks on their faces.

Finally, Ginny stepped through the portrait hole and walked over to them.

"Hey," she smiled.

"Thank the gods you're here!" Harry jumped up.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"We still haven't seen Hermione," Ron answered, "Do you think you could go check upstairs, and if she's there, ask her to come down?"

"Sure," Ginny said, furrowing her eyebrows before heading up the stairs.

Harry and Ron sat down for a few nail-biting minutes before Ginny came back down the stairs, "She says she'll be right down."

- - - - - - - - - -

**A/N:** How can she be right down when she's trapped in a room by Voldemort??? You'll find out next chapter !

I hope you all enjoyed chapter 4!

_Thank you to my amazing reviewers, you guys rock!!!_

Please review!!!!!!! It makes my day… really.

Jenny


	5. The Plan

Disclaimer: If I had a magic genie, for one of my three wishes I'd ask to be JK Rolwing for a day… unfortunately I don't have one… so I own nothing but the plot.

Chapter 5: The Plan

- - - - - - - - - -

_"We still haven't seen Hermione," Ron answered, "Do you think you could go check upstairs and if she's there, ask her to come down?"_

_"Sure," Ginny said, furrowing her eyebrows before heading up the stairs._

_Harry and Ron sat down for a few nail-biting minutes before Ginny came back down the stairs, "She says she'll be right down."_

The three friends sat down, looking both relieved and confused.

- - - - - - - - - -

Up in the girls' dormitory sat someone who looked exactly like Hermione and sounded exactly like Hermione, but was not. Bellatrix Lestrange looked at her reflection in the mirror and cringed at the face staring back at her.

_I look like a __Mudblood_, she thought to herself with pity.

She got up and took one more disgusted glance in the mirror before closing her eyes and composing herself; this was going to take one hell of an actress.

She walked out of the dormitory going over the things she had been watching Hermione do in the last month that she had been following her. She held her head high and walked lightly down the stairs to the common room.

"Hermione!" Harry said, standing up, "Where have you been, we've been worried about you!"

"I'm so sorry to worry you all," Bellatrix said sweetly, "I'm afraid I've felt terrible all day."

"Are you feeling better?" Ron asked, also standing up.

"I'm feeling a bit better now, you can all sit back down," she gave them a weak attempt at a smile as everyone took their seats again.

Bellatrix walked over to the seat closest to the window and sat down.

"You can have my seat if you like," Ron offered.

"No I'm fine, thank you," Bellatrix said, "I have a seat."

"Well… I know…" Ron stammered, "I just know that you don't usually like sitting by the window because it's drafty."

"Oh… I'm just a bit warm, that's all," she replied.

Ron nodded and everyone settled down.

"So how did classes go today, did I miss anything important?" Bellatrix asked, trying to sound overly interested.

"Oh it was the same first day talks we get every year," Harry shrugged.

"Well I'm glad I didn't miss anything then, do we have homework yet?"

"Of course we do, you know every teacher always assigns an essay the first day of classes," Ron said with a sigh.

"Right, of course," she said, "I suppose I should start those soon then, maybe I'll go do that now."

"But Hermione-" Ron started

"I just want to make sure everything's done right!" Bellatrix said, standing up, "I'm going to go talk to the professors, I do hope they're all still around."

With that Bellatrix swept out of the portrait hole and headed towards the dungeons with a scowl on her face.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Drake?" Blaise said as he walked into their room where a Draco looking figure was sitting at his desk intently writing a letter.

He didn't answer.

"Drake?" he said a little louder.

Still no answer.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy, are you alive?"

Draco's head popped up, "Oh, sorry, just give me a second."

"Who are you writing to?"

"I said just give me a second," the boy bit back.

"Alright, I'll be back in a while then," Blaise said rolling his eyes, "And you can lose the attitude with me, I'm on your side here."

Blaise set his things down and left the room.

Lucius Malfoy closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he looked back down at his letter.

_Master,_

_All is going well. Bella and I have successfully infiltrated Hogwarts and are in costume. The potion worked perfectly and I have been over my notes multiple times. Both Bella and I are honored at your choice of letting us help you with your plan. We will do everything in our power to give you the time you need. If there is anything either of us can do, please let me know and we will be there._

_I am currently heading off to meet with Bella and discuss everything. We will update you on what is happening here once a week._

_Your Loyal Servant,_

_Lucius Malfoy_

Lucius signed the bottom and folded up the letter, putting a charm on it so that no one but the Dark Lord could read it correctly. He tied it to his Draco's owl's leg and shooed it off.

He then got up from the desk and lay back on his new bed. How hard could it be to act like his son for a while?

- - - - - - - - - -

"Granger," Draco said.

"_Granger!"_ he said much louder.

Hermione jumped slightly and looked over at Draco who was still in the same position he had been in the last time she was awake.

"What?" she asked.

"You've been sleeping for hours," he said.

"Why did you wake me up?" she said pointedly.

"How can you be sleeping in this situation?"

"I'm not sure you understand how weak I feel, _Malfoy_," Hermione said, using all of her strength to sit up.

Draco watched as her chest heaved up and down with her deep breaths.

"But I can hardly hold myself up and it was just easier to sleep."

Draco's eyes snapped back up to hers, "Well I didn't think it was fair that you got to sleep while I sat here."

"You're a git, Malfoy, did you know that? You're a selfish _git_. You can't for five seconds just be a tolerable human being and let me sleep when the alternative is to be awake and think about this awful, torturous situation I'm in? _Worse,_ that I'm in with _you_."

"_Hours_, GrangerI've let you sleep for multiple hours. But I'm going insane just sitting here."

"Then get up and walk around or something," Hermione glared at him.

He glared right back, "You're not the only one who is weak. I've gone through just as much shit here as you have."

"Don't start that with me, I know we're both in the same situation, and if you had been the one sleeping I would have let you sleep."

"Drop it Granger, did you even think that maybe I just wanted someone to talk to, maybe _that_ was why I woke you up?"

"You knew we would just fight, why bother?" she retorted.

"Forget it," Draco said loudly, "Just forget about it and go back to sleep then."

"Are you going to wake me up again in ten minutes?"

"Just go to sleep."

- - - - - - - - - -

"_There_ you are," Bella said as Lucius stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.

"I was just sending a letter to the Dark Lord-"

"_Shh_!!" Bella exclaimed, lowering her voice and dragging Lucius farther into the room, "We can't talk like that here, Lucius, don't be reckless! We have to use code, we've talked about this already, you can't just-"

"Yes, yes, I know," Lucius said, "It was my mistake it won't happen again. I was just sending an owl to _Him_, before I came to meet you to let _Him_ know that everything has gone as planned so far."

"Right..." Bella said, "Well then, is everything situated on your end?"

"Yes, everything is set, I am just trying to get used to the situation."

"Well everything is set on my end as well," Bella said as she raised her chin and looked arrogant, "They didn't suspect a thing."

"Yes, well we'd better hope they don't."

"Is there anything we need to do?" Bellatrix asked.

"His orders were to take the potion today and give everyone a glimpse that the Mudblood and Draco are still here," Lucius said. "And then we meet once a week to discuss anything we've heard, especially what you've heard from the Golden Trio."

"Right," Bellatrix nodded, "We just have to remember, we hate eachother."

"Yes, well that won't be too hard, we've been watching them long enough to know what we can and can't do."

"Alright, well I guess that's everything for tonight then, Shall we say same time next Monday?"

Lucius agreed, opening the door for Bellatrix and they both left the room, "I'll see you around. Until our next meeting you can contact me if you need anything," Lucius said with a nod as they headed off in different directions.

- - - - - - - - - -

Hermione sat looking around the room. The candles had melted down some and the light had dimmed. She shivered as a wave of cold washed over her.

_How __am I__ going to get out of this_, she thought to herself. The chances of escaping looked minimal and with only the presence of Malfoy, she doubted that they would come up with some crazy scheme like she was sure she would have if she was with Harry and Ron. She had never felt as alone as she did right now sitting on the cold, dirty floor with her enemy.

Malfoy had finally gotten to sleep and was snoring softly in the corner. She now realized how lonely and bored Malfoy had felt while she had slept and she was quite tempted to wake him. _You can't do that_, she chided herself. It wasn't like waking him up would do any good anyways, they'd just argue again and he'd be annoyed at her like she was with him earlier.

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could feel tears welling up behind her eyes and tried as hard as she could to keep them in. What if she never saw her family again, or Harry and Ron? What about Hogwarts, would she ever be able to finish school? She couldn't be stuck here forever could she; with only the company of Malfoy? As hard as she was trying to stop them, she could feel the tears slip past her eyelids and roll slowly down her cheeks. Was anyone trying to find them yet? Did they even know they were gone? She sniffed quietly, bringing her knees up to her chest.

"What's wrong, Granger?" Draco's voice said groggily.

Hermione's eyes snapped open and she quickly wiped her face off on her sleeve, "Nothing, I'm fine."

"You're obviously not fine," Draco said shortly.

"What do you care anyways?"

"I don't, but your crying is interrupting my sleep," he retorted.

"How dare you talk to me like that," she exclaimed, her anger building, "You have no right to make fun of me right now! How can you be so insensitive—"

"Look, I'm sorry," Malfoy cut her off, "But I'm not in the mood for a fight."

"You should have just kept to yourself," Hermione said, burying her head in her knees, still trying to stop the tears from coming."

"Granger—" Malfoy started.

"If you're just going to make this more difficult then please, just stop," Hermione said.

Draco leaned his head up against the wall, "I know this is hard, Granger, I'm not stupid," he said in a quieter voice, "I just don't really know what to do right now."

"Our conversations don't really help much," Hermione shot at him, still upset.

"Then how about you stop coming at me," Draco suggested, irritated.

"Once you get over yourself, then I'll stop coming at you."

"Fine," Draco said, "Truce?"

Hermione looked up at him, not quite sure she heard him right, "What?"

"Truce?" he repeated, "If we're going to be stuck here together, we may as well stop making this more miserable for each other than it already is."

"Okay…" Hermione said uneasily, "Truce."

- - - - - - - - - -

**A/N**: I am so very sorry that this took so long to get up, I needed a little time to decide where I wanted to go with this story, but I think I have an idea so hopefully I'll get the next chapter up much sooner!

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please review and let me know what you thought!!

_Thank you to all of my amazing reviewers, you guys make my __dayyy_

Jenny


	6. Truce

**Disclaimer: I think I've kept you all waiting long enough to put this simply… don't own it, not mine!**

**Chapter 6: Truce**

- - - - - - - - - -

"Hermione?" Ron shook her lightly in the chair she was currently sleeping in.

"Hmph…" Bellatrix responded, turning her head away and groggily swatting at the offending sound.

"Hermione, it's time for breakfast… we've got Transfiguration this morning."

Bellatrix opened her eyes slowly, blinking a few times before she remembered where she was, "Right," she answered, "Yes, well I guess I'll go shower and get ready then," she stood up, yawning.

"Did you fall asleep down here?" Ron asked, surveying her disheveled appearance.

"Yes," Bellatrix replied shortly, _what did he think, she slept walk downstairs??_

She swept past him and up the stairs to the girl's dormitory.

"Morning," Harry said as he walked down the stairs, "Was that Hermione?"

"Yeah," Ron said, looking confused.

"Must have been up late doing homework," Harry shrugged.

"I guess so," Ron agreed as they pulled out their books to do some last minute work on their Divination assignment before Hermione returned.

- - - - - - - - - -

"So what do you think he wants from us?" Hermione asked as she sat back against the wall again, still on the opposite side of the room as Draco.

"Well, my best guess is that we're bait, but I don't really see how that can be right, seeing how the Dark Lord said no one would be looking for us…" His sentence drifted off and he stared at the ceiling for a few minutes as they both became lost in their own thoughts.

Hermione's voice finally broke the silence, "Do you think he wants us for information?"

"Not really much we can give him that he couldn't have found out otherwise."

"Why aren't you on his side?"

This question caught Draco off-guard and his gaze snapped from the floor directly to her eyes. She immediately noticed his eyes cloud over, as if shutting themselves to intruders. This look almost frightened her.



"Sorry, it wasn't supposed to be a big question, but as I told you earlier, it's not a bold assumption that you would be on his side, so I was just curious why you're not."

Draco looked at her carefully for a few more moments before looking away, "It really wasn't my choice."

"How so?" Hermione asked tentatively.

Draco surveyed her again; she could almost see the battle raging inside his head.

"I was on his side," he said, his eyes boring into hers, "but I couldn't cut it."

He looked away from her again; she could tell he felt disgusted with himself.

"It's what I was brought up for, being a Death Eater. But when it came down to it, I just couldn't be a killer," he almost sounded defensive.

"That's not a bad thing, Malfoy," Hermione said, in a much softer voice then she could ever remember using around him.

Draco shrugged, looking pointedly in the opposite direction.

"Are you really ashamed of not being able to kill someone?"

"No," Draco said quietly, "But I would never expect someone like you to understand. I didn't want to kill them, but I still should have been stronger than I was."

"Maybe you were being stronger by not doing it."

"I _told_ you, you don't understand," he glared at her, "It didn't matter whether or not I killed them; they were going to die anyways. If it wasn't me, it was going to be someone else. It wasn't a matter of killing someone or letting them go, it was a matter of killing them, or watching them be killed."

"I don't think there are many people who would have wanted to be the one doing the killing. It shows you have some kind of heart to not be able to do that."

Draco just shook his head, "Forget it," he said, "I never should have told you."

"I just wish you didn't think it was such a bad thing," Hermione sat up and hugged her knees to her chest.

"Drop it."

Hermione leaned back against the wall again and sighed, knowing that the conversation with Draco was over for now. They both sat there in silence for a while before slowly drifting off to sleep.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Oh shit," Bella muttered under her breath.



"What was that, Hermione?" Ron asked as they walked into History of Magic and set their books down.

"I said 'forgot about it,'" Bella covered as everyone around them pulled out their homework.

"Did you forget to grab your essay?" Harry asked, taking the seat next to her.

"No, I forgot to do it."

"You… what?" Ron asked, stunned.

Bellatrix inwardly cursed herself, how could she have forgotten?! Hermione would never forget a homework assignment, "Must have still been feeling under the weather," she said airily, "I'll talk to Professor Binns after class."

Harry and Ron exchanged confused looks and passed their homework to the front with everyone else. They continued to throw Hermione inquisitive looks as the class droned on as she was hardly taking notes like she usually did.

When class was dismissed, Bellatrix jumped up with everyone else to head to lunch.

"Uh, Hermione, weren't you going to talk to Professor Binns?" Harry asked when he caught up to her.

"Oh, right," she said distractedly, turning around and heading back into the classroom.

A few minutes later Bellatrix emerged from the classroom looking frustrated.

"Is everything sorted out?" Ron asked.

Bella jumped, not expecting Ron and Harry to be leaning against the wall outside the classroom waiting for her, "Um, yes. I told him I would get it to him by tomorrow morning."

The three walked to the Great Hall, Harry and Ron talking about their upcoming Quidditch practice while Bellatrix pretended to look interested as her mind wandered.

"I've got to make a stop in the ladies room," Bella said.

She turned around, waving to the others quickly, and headed in the opposite direction.

"I can't believe she forgot to do an essay," Harry furrowed his brows.

"I know, I wonder if there's something going on that she's not telling us about, she's been acting weird," Ron agreed.

"Maybe we'll ask her later, when we get more than a few minutes with her."

They continued on to lunch, both wondering about their friend.

- - - - - - - - - -



Hermione could sense a set of eyes on her before she opened her own. She slowly turned her head to the side and met Draco's gaze.

He jumped a little, not realizing she was awake.

"What?" she asked pointedly.

"Nothing, sorry, just bored," he replied.

"Have you decided to be civil again?"

"I was being civil before, you just got on my case and I didn't want to deal with—"

POP

Draco's head snapped towards the noise along with Hermione's.

"Ah, it looks as though you're both awake, very good," came the raspy voice of the Dark Lord.

Neither moved a muscle as they watched Him walk slowly closer to them.

"I hope you are getting along well, you will be here for a while still." His voice dripped with venom as he made to move closer to Draco.

Draco, using the wall for support, stood up quickly, and in shock, Hermione mirrored him.

"You are certainly not the smartest boy, Draco," he hissed, "You realize, of course, that if you had been stronger, I had such plans for you; I could sense the power in your veins, but, alas, you disappointed me. It is a waste that you have to sit here with this Mudblood," he motioned vaguely in Hermione's direction without taking his eyes from Draco, "While others are sent to do the job you would have been perfect for."

"I was being strong," Draco said defiantly.

"No, boy, you were very weak, and you knew that."

"I don't want to be your slave," his eyes hardened.

"No, you didn't have the determination to be great."

"I didn't have the heart to be terrible."

"Ahh, yes, heart. You will find, one day I'm sure, that it will be your downfall."

They looked at each other for a few seconds, Draco with a look as cold as ice in his eyes, and Lord Voldemort with disgust.

"_Crucio!"_ Voldemort hissed as Draco yelled out and fell to his knees.



"Stop!" Hermione shouted, running towards Draco.

Voldemort turned his wand on her, "Stay where you are, Mudblood. This in no way concerns you."

There were fiery tears in her eyes as she continued to run.

"_Punctum!"_ Voldemort flicked his wrist in a complicated movement.

Hermione screamed and slammed into the wall as she felt thousands of needles being stuck into her skin. She opened her eyes and saw nothing, but the pain was almost blinding and she slumped to the floor, gasping for breath as the curse was lifted.

"You should show respect to the Dark Lord," came the low hiss.

There was another POP and he was gone again.

The room was strangely silent as Draco and Hermione sat catching their breath.

"Are you okay?" Draco asked.

Hermione sat back against the wall, she was shivering, "I've n-never even h-heard of that c-curse," she stammered.

"I've never seen it before," Draco said, as he pushed himself up and walked slowly over to Hermione.

Hermione closed her eyes and absentmindedly rubbed her ribs, "I've never felt anything like it," she tried holding back her tears.

"Don't cry." It sounded harsher than he had meant it to.

Hermione opened her eyes to glare at him when she saw that he was half-propped up against the wall, "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Just weak, it will go away in a little while."

"Why don't you sit?" she suggested.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright first, I didn't know what it was he hit you with," he said as he made to turn around to go back to his seat on the opposite side of the room.

"You could sit here," she said quietly.

Draco surveyed Hermione for a second before lowering himself onto the ground next to her.

She gave him a faint smile that he returned.

- - - - - - - - - -

Bellatrix walked into an empty classroom and shut the door behind her.



"That took you an extra minute," came Lucius' voice.

"Binns is going to be a problem."

"Yes, I was wondering about that one earlier," Lucius responded, "He is a ghost after all."

- - - - - - - - - -

**A/N:** Soooo I know it's been a while and I'm VERY sorry about that!! It's been a long few months and I'm going to try to update more often now that I'm going back to school soon! I hope you all enjoyed that chapter, things will be picking up soon!

_Thank you to all of my reviewers, I absolutely love reading what you have to say!_

Please review!!

Jenny


	7. Feelings

**Disclaimer: **No esta mio.

**Chapter 7: **Feelings

- - - - - - - - - -

Draco drifted in and out of sleep for a few hours, his dreams as bad as his reality. He heard screams in his mind, screams of the few people he cared about.

_The scene was different in his dream. He was not in a dark dungeon, but in a wide open field with tall grass that came up to his hips. He looked around frantically, eyes straining to see through the grass; to find what he was looking for._

"_I won't let you hurt my boy!" he heard his mother's voice in front of him; she must be close by, though he couldn't see anything as he scanned the ground. He ran forward._

"_No! No, go back!" his mother pleaded with him from her unseen position. He kept going, determined to get to her._

"_You don't understand, Draco, it's not me you need to worry about! She's there; you're going the wrong way!"_

_Draco slowed, confused. He looked around again, unsure who he was supposed to be looking for._

_A scream pierced the cool air and Draco turned quickly toward the sound._

"_Help, please…" came the weak voice of Hermione._

_Without a second thought he started running, as fast as his legs would take him, he sprinted toward the sound, no longer confused._

"_Please…" it came again, just as far away as the first._

_He sped up, barely able to feel his legs anymore, breath sharp in his lungs._

_He heard another scream of pain, more anguished than the first, and then there was silence. No, he thought, No, I can't be too late. His legs gave way and he fell to the cold earth. He tried to push himself back up but his legs were jelly underneath him. No, his mind screamed at him, No, she needs you, get up, go! Draco held his head in his hands; this was it, he had no choice, he could not let himself lose this fight. As though his life depended on it, he dragged himself up on his unsteady feet and took a step forward, he was so close._

"_Hermione!" he yelled._

Draco jutted awake. He had said her name in real life like he had in his dream. He glanced around, his eyes locking with Hermione's, which were looking inquisitively at him from his side. He looked at her and felt himself relaxing inexplicably. As he inspected her for another minute he noticed her teeth were chattering and she was holding her knees to her body.

"Yes?" she finally asked, brows furrowed.

"I-you… you look cold, well, freezing. And your teeth are chattering," he responded quickly.

"Were you dreaming?" she asked, ignoring his comment.

"No, no, just resting my eyes, I could just hear your teeth, that's all," he lied.

"Oh," she said skeptically, "Well I'm sorry to bother your rest just because I'm cold."

"It's fine," Draco responded, pausing for a moment to make a decision, "I just… don't want… you to be so cold. Why don't you come closer," he said slowly, still meeting her eyes.

"I…" she stuttered, taken aback, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," he said a little breathlessly. He didn't know what this feeling in his stomach was, or why he all of a sudden felt so attached to this girl, but he wanted to be closer, he wanted to hold her, protect her; keep her warm.

After a moment's hesitation, she moved closer to his nervously.

"It's okay, really," he said, motioning her even closer to him.

She slid over more now, their bodies now just inches from each other. He slowly wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He felt her tense beside him as he closed the gap between them.

"Really, it's okay," he whispered in her ear.

She gave a small nervous laugh and looked up at him, "I know we called a truce and everything, this just isn't really what I was expecting."

"I guess I just want you to be comfortable, I know how stressful and difficult this has been," he shrugged as if it were no big deal, "Besides, I can't let you get out of this the easy way by freezing to death," a small smirk played at his lips as he looked down at her.

She felt her heart speed up as their eyes locked. Any response was lost in her throat as silver burned into brown.

Draco pushed a small strand of hair behind her ear. He didn't know where these feelings- this passion- had come from but he didn't care right now. She was here, she was safe, she was looking at him with those innocent eyes; his mind was on overload. He licked his lips subconsciously; he wanted to be even closer.

Hermione saw him lick his lips and swore she felt her heart skip a beat; why had she never seen how stunning this boy was? She swallowed nervously, biting her bottom lip gently.

Watching this, Draco couldn't help himself anymore. Throwing caution to the wind her held her face in one of his hands and leaned down slowly, closing his eyes.

Hermione mirrored his actions, closing the remaining gap between the two. Their lips met softly testing the waters. He ran his hand through her thick hair, it was so much softer than he had expected. Draco's head was spinning as they parted after a minute. Even the feeling of her breath on his lips was hypnotizing. He smiled to himself; eyes still closed, and leaned back in again. He kissed her more passionately this time, holding her as close to him as her could. Hermione responded fervently, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. She felt him lightly run his tongue across her bottom lip and opened her mouth slightly to him.

They kissed for what seemed like hours, entwined together and careless. When they finally split apart, Draco took her hand in his and kissed it sweetly.

"Where did this come from?" Hermione whispered quietly.

"I don't know," Draco said, kissing her hand again, "I had a dream that I was trying to save you, that my life depended on it, but I was too late… when I woke up and you were here… the feelings just didn't go away."

Hermione smiled, looking up at him, "Then why do I feel like this too… I wasn't having any dreams."

"How could you not?" Draco smirked, "Just look at me."

Hermione rolled her eyes at him, "Seriously?"

Draco laughed softly and kissed the top of her head, "I want you to get some rest."

Hermione leaned back on his shoulder and closed her eyes, relaxing for the first time since they had gotten here.

- - - - - - - - - -

"So what are we going to do about Binns?" Lucius asked as he paced across the small room.

"I hate to say it, but we may have to just forget about him…" Bella said, "If it can't be done, it can't be done."

"Do you really think that will be a satisfying explanation for the Dark Lord?" Lucius hissed.

"Well at least for now I think we should put it out of our minds," Bella suggested, "We should go for number two on the list. This is why we tried him first anyway, remember?"

"I know," Lucius replied, "I just hoped that we would be wrong. Alright, well next on my list is Trelawney for me. I got Flitwick this morning."

"How did it go?"

"Well, worked like a charm," he smirked, "Next on your list is the Ancient Runes professor."

"Okay, I have that after lunch."

"Then we will meet later tonight?"

"I'll see you then, goodbye Lucius," Bella smirked back at him and left the room.

Bella walked into the Great Hall and scanned the Gryffindor table for Harry and Ron. They waved at her from across the room and she strode over to them, taking the seat next to Ron, and grabbed a roll.

"So Hermione what are your plans for the night?" Ron asked looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh, you know, probably just going to go to the library," Bella answered airily.

"Do you think you could help Harry and I with transfiguration later? We're having trouble with a few of the review spells."

"Oh, sure, I suppose if I have some free time I can."

"Are you feeling alright?" Harry asked her, looking concerned.

"Yes, just a bit tired," she shrugged, "I think I may go up to my room and take a nap before Ancient Runes."

"But you've hardly ate anything Hermione," Harry said.

"I'm not very hungry," she replied, getting up from the table with a brief wave and leaving the Great Hall.

"I really feel like something is wrong with her," Ron said as they watched Hermione walk away.

"She's just not acting like herself at all," Harry agreed.

"No… she's really not. What do you think is wrong?"

"I don't know, but we're sure going to find out," Harry said as they watched the bottom of her robes go around the corner.

- - - - - - - - - -

**A/N:** Okayyy so it's been a very long time since I updated… I'm sorry! But I'm in a writing mood so hopefully a stroke of brilliance will come to me and I can get some more chapters up soon!

Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers, it really means so much to me!!

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter, pleaseeee reviewww so I know how I'm doing :]_

Jenny


	8. Old Habits

**Disclaimer: **If I were British, I would sooo be JK Rowling. But unfortunately I'm not British, so I don't own Harry Potter.

**Chapter 8: **Old habits

Draco jerked in his sleep, waking up Hermione and making her gasp. She looked over at the boy next to her with his mouth wide open.

An odd sense filled her as she looked at him. She felt confused about how the events of the past day had panned out and somewhat nervous about it. How could this boy change the way he felt toward her so completely in such a short amount of time?

She slowly untangled herself from his arms and stood up, walking to the other side of the room. She walked the perimeter slowly, arms crossed and mind wandering. She felt so stiff from sitting on the hard ground. She longed for a good meal and some sunlight to give her some real energy. After a few minutes she felt light headed and sat back down a few feet from Draco. She closed her eyes with a soft sigh and shook her head, trying to clear her mind.

When she opened her eyes again she saw at the far end of the room two plates of bread. She felt her stomach grumble and gave in to her senses, walking over and picking up the plates.

"Malfoy," she said softly, setting down one of the plates to shake him.

"Hmm?" he answered groggily.

"There's food," she answered, holding the plate out to him.

"There's what?" he asked incredulously before realizing that by food she meant two pieces of bread, "oh," he said less enthusiastically.

"Sorry it's not something more impressive, but at least it's something," Hermione shrugged.

"Right," he said coldly.

Another sense of nervousness set in as Hermione sat back down next to the less than friendly Draco.

"It's good you got some sleep," Hermione said.

"Heh, yeah, sleep," Draco rolled his eyes, "Did you get any sleep?"

"Yeah, for a few minutes," she said, "but I woke up a little while ago, I wish I could stretch my legs a little or something."

"Good luck with that," Draco said mockingly.

"Well I'm sorry for thinking something _so_ stupid," Hermione said, starting to get annoyed with Draco's hard demeanor.

"I was just saying there's not much of a chance of that currently."

"Well that doesn't mean I can't think about it. I feel like it's been forever since I've gotten fresh air and any kind of exercise."

"It hasn't been that long," Draco retorted, "we can't have been here more than a couple days."

"I'd say four or five, maybe longer," Hermione said.

"Oh yeah? And why do you say that?" Draco looked over at her as he took a small bite of the bread.

"I just feel like it's been longer than a couple days, that's all," Hermione stated, finishing the last of her first piece of bread.

"Right," Draco said, "Either way, I'd say it's going to be a while before you get any of that again, so you may as well deal with it."

"Oh and you don't miss those things?" Hermione said.

"Not really. It's been much longer for me since I've had fresh air and a nice relaxing day outside," Draco said darkly as he remembered his summer locked away in his room.

"I'm just feeling a little cabin fever I guess," Hermione looked sideways at him, reaching her hand out for his arm as a calming gesture.

"Get used to it," Draco put the last of his bread in his mouth and wiped the crumbs off his hands, subtly avoiding her touch

"I just—nevermind," Hermione sighed, putting her hands back in her lap. Draco obviously wasn't in the mood to chat.

"Whatever, you can stay with your daydreams if you want, but this is how it's going to be for a while: Bread, concrete, and darkness. Just deal with it and stop pretending like all of a sudden you're going to stumble upon a miracle." Draco got up and walked to the other side of the room, pulling one leg at a time up to try and stretch out. After a few minutes roaming around the room silently, he settled himself against the wall opposite Hermione.

Ron and Harry walked back to the common room after Divination, finding it as empty as ever.

"Where is everyone these days," Ron complained, throwing his bag next to the chair he flopped down in.

"Well we got out a little early, I'm sure people will be up soon, most of the younger kids don't have breaks this early in the day, remember?" Harry said, taking sitting down on the couch.

"I guess that's some real evidence that we're really sixth years, huh?" Ron grinned.

"I hope Hermione gets back soon so we can work on Transfiguration before tonight," Harry looked towards the door, "We still have an essay to write tonight for Herbology."

"Ugh, I forgot about that," Ron groaned.

The portrait hole opened and they both snapped their heads towards it.

"Hi guys!" Neville waved as he crawled through, joining Harry on the couch.

"Hey Neville, how was your private lessen with Professor Sprout?" Ron asked.

"Really great!" he smiled widely, "She showed me her new batch of mandrakes! She even gave me a few of my own to research! I guess they're always looking for new uses for it and such."

"Make sure you keep your earmuffs on this time," Harry joked, slapping him lightly on the back.

"Oh yes, I've learned my lesson! They're really quite interesting once you get past their scream."

The portrait hole opened and once again Harry and Ron snapped their necks around.

Lavender and Parvati climbed through, waving at the boys and talking in whispers as they headed towards the girls' dormitories.

"Waiting for something?" Neville asked as Harry and Ron turned back to him.

"Just for Hermione," Ron said, "We haven't seen much of her lately."

"Come to think of it I haven't really either. But I'm sure she's just off studying, that seems normal," Neville shrugged.

"Yeah, definitely," Harry said unconvincingly.

The boys continued to chat nonchalantly, but each time the portrait hole opened, their eyes jumped to it.

"Draco, you awake in there?" Blaise said as he walked into their room.

No sound came from inside the hangings covering Draco's bed.

"Drake!" Blaise said louder, but to no avail.

"I'm opening the hangings, at least I warned you," Blaise said as he pulled them back.

Draco's look-alike lay staring at the ceiling, hardly flinching when Blaise threw back the hangings.

"What're you doing man, I hardly ever see you anymore."

"Sorry," Lucius drawled, "Just interested in some time to myself."

"Right, well it's me. You can chill out," Blaise sat down on his bed, still looking at the boy across from him, "What's going on with you? I know your summer was tough but you're back at Hogwarts now and you still seemed like yourself the first few days back."

"Yeah, sorry, things are fine," Lucius said, remembering that he needed to stay in character.

"Did you have another row with Pansy?" Blaise asked, trying to key in on the problem.

"No, why would I?" Lucius said, unaware of Draco's girl problems.

"Ah, still not talking to her, that's fair. Is there someone else you're not telling me about?" Blaise tried.

"No, I think I'm gonna stay away from that whole dating thing for a little while, ya know, after things with Pansy," Lucius said, trying to act like he knew what happened.

"Right, I get that, we were all surprised that you actually dated her anyway. But I mean is there anyone you're going after in general right now? You seem preoccupied, I thought maybe you were working on a ploy or trying to figure out someone to add to your list. Just trying to figure you out, Drake," Blaise lay back, putting his hands behind his head.

"Nothing's going on, and I don't need to add anyone else to my _list_ at the moment," Lucius said, learning more than he needed to know about his son.

"Alright," Blaise rolled his eyes, "Well we've got some free time, do you want to head down to the quidditch pitch and fly around for a while?"

"Uh, sure," Lucius said, knowing it would be something Draco would never pass up.

Hermione surveyed Draco as he sat across from her; he was looking away, his hands in fists wrapped around his knees. Why had he been so much different earlier? He acted as if he actually cared about her, he kissed her!

Draco felt her eyes on him and rolled his own, "What?" he said.

Hermione considered her words, "Well, earlier things were a lot different between us and now you're across the room ignoring me."

"I had a lapse of judgment earlier. I was stuck in my own dream world, one that doesn't exist," he met her eyes coldly.

"So you feel nothing for me?" Hermione persisted, confused.

"Not a thing," Draco turned his eyes to one of the candles that had just gone out.

A loud *POP* shook them both as they jumped to their feet.

Surprisingly, it was not the Dark Lord, it was Wormtail.

Not making eye contact with either of them, Wormtail relit the candle.

"He sent _you_, did he?" Draco smirked.

"I do whatever my master asks of me," Wormtail said, crossing to the other side of the room to replace the other worn down candle.

"Where are we?" Hermione asked suddenly, hoping Wormtail may be useful.

"In a dungeon," Wormtail said simply, "_Incendio!_" he muttered under his breath as a new flame burst into life.

"How do you get in and out when there's no door?" Hermione said.

"It's a spell, obviously," Draco shot at her.

"Only his most loyal servants know it," Wormtail boasted.

"Why aren't our friends looking for us?" Hermione said.

"Because you're not missing," Wormtail grinned before disapparating from the room.

"Did you think he was going to let us go or something?" Draco said sardonically.

"Wormtail is weak, I think with enough prodding he could let something slip," Hermione said.

"He might be weak, but he's not stupid," Draco shook his head, "The Dark Lord knows everything, you don't make mistakes like that."

They both sat back down, neither wanting to talk anymore, and drifted into uneasy rests.

**A/N:** Sorry for my lack of updating, but here's a new chapter, with any luck I'll be able to write more often!

_Please please review_, they make me write faster and make my day!

Thanks to all of you awesome reviewers, I appreciate it so much!

Jenny


	9. Tensions

**Disclaimer: **I can haz potter? Nope, not mine, I own nothing.

**Chapter 9: **Tensions

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Half an hour after most of the sixth and seventh year Gryffindors had returned to the tower for break, Bellatrix finally crawled through the portrait hole looking distracted.

"Hermione!" Ron called as soon as he saw her.

Bellatrix walked towards the staircase to the dormitory, deep in thought.

"Hermione!" Harry said, jumping off from the couch and catching her shoulder.

Bellatrix jumped slightly and looked around, "Oh, hi Harry," she said in a fakely sweet voice, "I'm going to put my bag down and I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Alright," Harry said, standing there awkwardly after she walked away and looking back at Ron with furrowed brows.

A few minutes later Bellatrix came back down, sitting in the unoccupied chair across from them next to the window.

"Do you have a few minutes to help us with Transfiguration?" Ron asked hesitantly.

"Sure, what are you having trouble with?" Bellatrix asked patiently.

For the next hour she went over multiple transfiguration skills with Harry and Ron and read over and corrected their essays on animal to animal transfigurations, (although it was not as well corrected as it would have been if the real Hermione had read it over).

"Alright I have some work to finish up before Arithmancy this evening," Bellatrix said, standing up.

"Okay, we'll see you at dinner, then?" Harry asked.

"Sure," Bellatrix said as she picked up her bag and walked back upstairs. She let out a breath as she closed the door to her room and lay down on her bed.

"Hermione?" came the voice of Lavender.

"Yes?" Bellatrix asked, trying to mask the annoyance in her voice.

Lavender pulled back the hangings and sat down on the edge of the bed, "It's just that I couldn't help but notice that you've been doing something different with your hair lately and I really love it!" she gushed.

Bellatrix bit her tongue to keep from rolling her eyes, "Oh, yes, I just decided it would be easier to deal with if it wasn't so frizzy and in my face all the time," she smiled.

"Is it a new spell?" Lavender asked.

"Yes, I read about it the other day," Bellatrix said, absently running a hand through her soft hair, "It's _sedo mollis_. I'll teach it to you some time, right now I need some rest though."

"Great," Lavender beamed, "See you later Hermione!"

Bellatrix couldn't remember the last time she'd had a girly conversation like that and was partially annoyed with it and partially relieved by the ease of such an unimportant matter. Sighing, she lay her head back and closed her eyes, she'd get to the arithmancy homework later.

After a longer than expected nap, Bellatrix hastily finished her homework just in time to rush down to a late dinner.

"Hey Hermione," Ginny said as Bellatrix sat down.

"Hi," she responded, grabbing a roll and filling up a glass of pumpkin juice.

"Running late today?" Harry asked. He, Ron and Ginny had come down half an hour ago and were nearly finished.

"Yes, but it's alright, I'm not too hungry tonight," Bellatrix said, taking a bite of the roll.

"Did you finish up your homework?" Ron asked.

"Oh yes, of course. There was just more than I expected when I started it last night."

"Have you been spending a lot of time in the library?" Ron glanced sideways at her, curious what her answer would be.

"Not too much," she said before realizing she hadn't been around very often, and it would be a normal thing for Hermione, "Well, I mean, a few hours every night, you know, the usual."

"This weekend is a Hogsmeade trip so we were thinking we'd all go together," Harry said.

Bellatrix cursed inwardly, "That sounds lovely."

"Great, we haven't seen you too much lately, I'm glad you'll come to Hogsmeade!" Ron breathed a sigh of relief; hoping things would go back to normal.

"Why wouldn't she come, Ron," Ginny said quizzically.

"I-Well-it's-" he stammered, "I was just saying I'm glad she's coming," he finished lamely, moving the food on his plate around absently.

Bellatrix gave a half-hearted smile and finished her pumpkin juice, "Well I'm off to class, see you all later," she said as she picked up her bag and left the Great Hall without a backwards glance.

"I'm sure she'll be more herself soon," Harry said, "Maybe she's just been anxious about homework and being back at school."

"Ginny do you think you could try talking to her? Maybe it's—ya know, _girl_ stuff," Ron said.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Yes I'll talk to her, Ron."

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Bellatrix sat through arithmancy class bored stiff, doodling idly in her notebook as Professor Vector droned on. When she saw everyone packing up she quickly snapped back, putting her books away slowly. As soon as she was sure that everyone else had left the classroom she went up to the front of the class where the professor was packing up her materials.

"_Imperio!_" She said before she had the chance to turn around to see who was still in the room.

Her back straightened and her muscles relaxed.

"Turn around," Bellatrix said.

The professor turned around, her blank eyes looking at Bellatrix.

"For the rest of the school year, starting when I tell you, you will act as your normal self at all times. If you know or hear anything at all about Harry Potter, you will tell me after this class when there is no one around. You will also do as I tell you in the future," Bellatrix said as she paced slowly back and forth in front of her, "Nod if you understand me."

The professor nodded and Bellatrix gave her an evil grin, "Perfect, this starts now."

A little bit of light returned to Professor Vector's eyes as she looked at Vellatrix confusedly, "Yes?" she asked, "Did you need something Ms. Granger?"

"I just came to hand you my homework, I forgot to pass it up at the beginning of class," she said, handing her the essay.

"Oh, wonderful," the professor said, taking the paper from her, "I'm very much looking forward to this year with you, I've heard only the best of things!" she smiled at her before turning back around to organize her briefcase.

Taking that as her cue, Bellatrix slung her bag over her shoulder and headed back to Gryffindor Tower.

0 0 0 0 0

"Draco!" came the voice of Pansy Parkinson as Lucius was walking towards the dungeons after class.

"Yes?" Lucius asked, turning around and momentarily forgetting his supposed dislike for Pansy, and cursing himself for stopping to talk to her when he remembered.

When she reached him she grabbed his arm, almost as if she was afraid he would walk away if she didn't, "how are you?" she asked awkwardly.

"Fine," he answered, "What's going on?"

"I just _miss_ you," she blurted out pathetically. A group of Slytherins jeered at her as they walked by. Trying to regain herself, she stood up a little straighter and put both of her arms loosely around his neck, trying to act as if things were normal, "I haven't seen you in so long, Draco."

Lucius removed her arms from him and took a step back, "Perhaps we can talk later," he said, feeling very out of place having this school boy moment.

"Hogsmeade?" she said quickly, "Come with me?"

Lucius never remembered Pansy pleading with Draco before, they had always seemed like equals when she was at the house, or he had heard them talking.

Stuck, Lucius nodded, "I guess so."

"Great," she beamed, "I promise Draco, it'll be a great time." She bit her lip and turned around, waving over her shoulder at him as she headed to her next class.

_I should probably talk to Blaise to get an idea what I'm in for on Saturday,_ Lucius thought to himself, turning around and heading for his room once again.

0 0 0 0 0

Draco shifted uncomfortably, his eyes opening to stare at the wall once more. Sleep seemed a million miles away from this place, from this life.

"You're still awake too?" came Hermione's voice.

"Nope, sleeping," Draco replied shortly.

Hermione huffed audibly, "Can't you just be pleasant again?" she snapped.

"No," Draco said without turning towards her.

"Do you really want this to be more miserable than it already is?" Hermione persisted.

"Can't really get much more miserable so I don't care," Draco said.

"How are you feeling physically?" Hermione said for an attempt at conversation.

Draco didn't reply.

Crossing her arms, Hermione put her head against the wall and stared at the ceiling. After a few long minutes of silence Hermione stood up quickly. Draco mirrored her out of their routine when someone would apparate into the room.

"What was that for," Draco said sourly.

Hermione walked over to him, her hands balled into fists, "This is so unnecessary," she said angrily.

Draco looked at her coldly, "You may need someone to comfort you and tell you everything is okay, but I'm not going to be that person. I'm watching out for myself here."

"Don't pretend you don't care at all," Hermione shot back, "Why are you insistent on closing yourself off? What's it going to hurt to open up, or even just be friendly?"

"Not feeling anything is just easier," Draco said.

She couldn't read anything on his face, his eyes were guarded and his body tense. Whatever life and feelings she had seen in those piercing silver eyes before were gone; turned to ice and empty.

"Take down the god damn army," Hermione took a step closer, their bodies mere inches from each other.

"No," Draco told her again.

Their eyes met, her penetrating honey brown eyes forcing their way past his fortresses.

"We're all we've got right now," she said in hardly a whisper.

"No, I'm all I've got and you're all you've got," Draco countered in the same voice.

"Misery loves company," Hermione stated.

"Leave me out of your company," Draco said.

As they went back and forth Hermione kept inching forward until their skin was almost touching, their eyes embedded deeply into the others'.

"Try being strong for once and let someone in," Hermione breathed.

Draco took Hermione by the arms in frustration and spun her around so she was against the wall. He put his hands on either side of her face, "You don't know what I've had to do to be strong," he hissed.

"Doesn't seem to me like you've done anything," she bit.

Without thinking about what he was doing, he closed the small gap that was left and crashed his lips onto hers. It was fierce and full of the emotion he had locked away. It was anger, defiance and annoyance mixed with lust and longing. Her lips parted and he slid his tongue in to battle with hers. Hermione wrapped her arms around his back, digging her nails into his shoulders. The kiss was rough, so much different than the one they had shared before. She could feel her back against the cold wall, the brisk air against her skin, and the chill his kiss sent down her spine, but all of that was drowned out by his breath on her lips and the heat sparking from the passion between them.

Hermione moved her hand up and ran it through his hair, grabbing a chunk and pulling on it lightly. Draco pulled her against him by her shoulders, charged by the current running through him. Their bodies fit together effortlessly as their hands roamed the others' body.

Hermione let out a low moan through the kiss and Draco felt her grab a fist full of his shirt. Coming back down to reality Draco pulled himself away, letting Hermione go. She stumbled back a step, catching her balance against the wall.

"There are reasons people don't let down their fucking guard!" Draco yelled at her, now a few steps away.

Breathing heavily Hermione stood up straight and collected herself, "People also don't just kiss like that, Malfoy, that doesn't happen unless you want it to!" she yelled back. She could feel angry tears building up behind her eyes but she held them back.

Draco turned his back on her and sat in the corner of the room, still seething.

"You can't just do that!" she was so mad she could hit something.

"Then forget it fucking happened," Draco shot.

"You. Are. Unbelievable." Hermione sat back down against her wall, shaking.

The room was quiet once again, yet full of a lingering, heavy tension.

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**A/N: **Wooo, I hope you're all excited about 1) the impressively short time it took to get this chapter up and 2) the story so far, especially this chapter! It's fun getting back into this story, but in COMPLETE honesty, reviews would be greatly appreciated so I know people are interested in the story still and so I get an idea how I'm doing with it so far!

Please, please, please review, I would love all the critique, opinions, or thoughts that you guys have got :]

_Thank you SO much to my awesome reviewers, it means the world to me and makes me excited to keep writing!_

Jenny


	10. Suspicious Behavior

**Chapter 10: Suspicious Behavior**

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There was a soft knock on the door as Bellatrix's head shot up from the letter she was writing. "_Prorepo litteris_," she whispered quickly, pointing her wand at the note and watching as the letters moved themselves around haphazardly on the paper. When it looked unrecognizable, she shoved it into the desk drawer.

"Come in," she said in as sweet a voice as she could.

"Hey Hermione!" Ginny smiled, shutting the door behind her as she came into the room and jumped on Hermione's bed.

"Hi, Ginny," Bellatrix answered, getting up to rearrange some of her books, hoping for a short conversation.

"What've you been up to the past few days? It seems like you've been busy!" Ginny said nonchalantly.

"Oh, I suppose," Bellatrix responded, "I wasn't feeling well for the first couple of days, still a bit off I guess."

"I think the boys are a bit lost without you around them all the time," Ginny grinned.

"Oh, that's silly," Bellatrix said as she walked over to her trunk and started rummaging through it.

"Are you seeing someone?" Ginny whispered excitedly.

Bella looked over at her, brows furrowed, "No."

"Oh, I just thought maybe you'd been off with someone else," Ginny said, disappointed.

"No, just trying to keep up on my studies and have some time for myself," Bellatrix shrugged, "You know although it's not my O.W.L. year, there's still so many things we have to learn and practice."

"I guess so," Ginny sighed, "So is everything alright with you and the boys then?"

"Oh of course," Bellatrix said with a convincing smile, "You know I was just thinking I'd like to go down and spend some time with them!"

"Great!" Ginny said, hopping off the bed and following Bellatrix out the door.

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Draco and Hermione hadn't spoken for hours now, although both were awake; Hermione was pacing as Draco sat with his back towards her, his head resting in his hands.

"Won't you even look at me," Hermione finally said in an exasperated voice.

Draco rolled his eyes, unmoving.

With no answer, Hermione continued pacing, getting more annoyed. She was going to go crazy here; locked in a room with nothing to look at but the contours of the wall, nothing to hear but the wax falling to the ground every few seconds from the candles, nothing to even keep track of the time but the intermittent rows with Draco.

Starting to feel hopeless she sank to the ground in the corner, silent tears streaming down her face. It was almost as if the brief truce with Draco had given her some small form of sanity. At least it had provided an escape for a moment from the fear and anxiety that now seemed constant.

Draco sat with his eyes closed, listening to Hermione's light footsteps go back and forth across the other side of the room as he thought to himself that there wasn't anyone he would less like to be stuck in this room with. Her nervous habits and consistent need for conversation and comfort were starting to wear thin and certainly weren't something he needed. No, It just wasn't his personality. All he had to worry about was his own personal safety and sanity. Getting involved with Granger's _emotions_ was not going to help his sanity at all. Maybe if he ignored her long enough she would give up.

He heard the pacing stop and the quiet sound of her jacket sliding down the wall as she finally sat down. He peeked over at her from underneath his arm and saw that she had her head buried in her arms, tears dripping down onto the floor beneath her.

For a second he almost _wanted_ to go comfort her, knowing that he was making her more miserable. He immediately dismissed that thought as he shook his head with frustration, closing his eyes again to try and collect himself.

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"Hey Draco," Blaise said as he looked up from his Potions book.

"Hi," Lucius said, going to sit on the end of his bed, trying to figure out how to word what he wanted to say.

"What's up?" Blaise asked, noticing his expression.

"I just ran into Pansy," he started.

"What'd she do now," Blaise sighed, casting his book aside.

"Well nothing really, it's just that so much happened this summer that I've been trying to remember what I was most upset about with her," Lucius said, hoping he could pull off pretending he had any idea what was going on.

"Are you serious…?" Blaise said.

"I mean obviously I know why I was mad at her, I'm just trying to figure out which part was the worst…" Lucius let his sentence drift off.

"Probably that part where she slept with Marcus Flint, mate," Blaise looked uncertainly at him.

Lucius was inwardly shocked, but kept his composure, "Right but since then I just feel like there's been so much else, too," he prodded.

"I dunno, was the run-in with her on train really as bad as the actual fact of her cheating on you? I mean I thought you handled it pretty good, telling her to fuck off and all."

"Right," Lucius said.

"Please don't tell me you've been missing her or something," Blaise said, "She screwed you over, mate."

"No, of course not," Lucius retorted, "But she asked me to go to Hogsmeade with her on Saturday and I told her I would. At the very least I think I deserve an explanation for what happened."

"She gave you an explanation, a shitty one at that," Blaise looked at him incredulously, "You weren't allowed to go see her, she couldn't handle the lack of attention, and fucked someone else."

"Yeah, of course it wasn't a good explanation," Lucius mentally kicked himself, "I guess I just keep hoping there was a better explanation she didn't tell me. Obviously there's not. I just got caught up in the moment when I was talking to her I think. Ya know, like it was the old Pansy."

"You should get your head out of your arse or you're going to end up doing something stupid," Blaise said, shaking his head and picking his book back up.

"It was a momentary lapse of judgment," Lucius said through gritted teeth.

"That's what I'm here for," Blaise shot him a smirk.

Lucius lay back on his bed, hoping he hadn't looked like too much of an idiot, and closed his eyes to try and get a nap before he went to meet Bellatrix for a meeting.

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"Hi boys," Bellatrix said as she walked over to Harry and Ron, who were immersed in a game of Wizard's Chess.

"Hey Hermione!" Ron said, almost knocking over the board as he jumped up to greet her.

"Who's winning?" Bellatrix said in an attempt at conversation.

"Do you really have to ask?" Harry said with a grin, happy Hermione had decided to join them.

"Ah, of course," Bellatrix said offhandedly, "So anyway, how has your family been, Ron?"

"Oh, good," Ron said as he sat back down, "Mum sent an owl at breakfast today saying that Charlie had been promoted at work. It's crazy how long he's been away, Romania for four years and now Peru for the past two. But one of his studies just got published; I guess he was working with a really famous Dragonologist on the uses of Peruvian Vipertooth venom. I'm sure you'd know more about it than we would," Ron smiled at her.

"Wow, that's wonderful," Bellatrix tried to smile back at him as genuinely as possible.

"Does he have any idea how Norbert's doing?" Harry asked.

"He said he gave him to one of his friends to take care of when he left for Peru; gave him strict instructions to send an owl to Hagrid every month to let him know how he's doing."

They all laughed a little, Bellatrix awkwardly, as the rest of them thought about Hagrid's first dragon.

"And how about the rest of the family?" Bellatrix asked, hoping to extend to conversation enough to not have to think of another subject.

"Well dad said everything's been going alright at the ministry, Scrimgeour isn't his favorite but he treats him better than Fudge ever did," Ron continued to catch the others up on the rest of his family as he and Harry continued their game of chess.

As it got later and Bellatrix grew tired of acting interested. She yawned loudly, "Well it's getting pretty late already and I wanted to get that Herbology essay done tonight," she said when there was finally a break in the conversation.

"Isn't that due tomorrow?" Harry said, looking at her, confused.

"Yes," Bellatrix answered, pushing herself out of her chair.

"You haven't done it yet?" Ron looked over at her with the same look.

"I've just gotten caught up with other work," Bellatrix countered, agitated.

"Right…" Ron said, "Well good luck then."

"Thank you," Bellatrix tried to soften her voice, "Have a good night, everyone. I'll see you at breakfast."

Ginny turned to the two boys as they watched Hermione climb out of the portrait hole, "I'm going to follow her."

"You're _what_?" Harry said, his eyebrows raised.

"Oh come on, she's been acting so different practically all year, I want to know if she's up to something."

"I'm sure she's not," Ron said half-heartedly, not quite believing himself.

"Well I'm going to find out, I'll see you guys later," Ginny said as she got up and headed off after Bellatrix.

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A loud *POP* made both Draco and Hermione snap their heads up. Wormtail was back, this time with a glass of water and a plate of bread. He went around doing what he had come there to do, pretending the others weren't in the room. He threw a backpack into the center of the room without any words and walked over to one of the candles which had almost melted completely again.

"What's in the bag?" Hermione asked in an attempt at a strong voice.

Wormtail glanced at her in the corner of his eye, fidgeting with his wand as he lit the new candle, still not saying anything.

"What's in the bloody bag?" Draco said louder.

Wormtail looked quickly over at Draco, his movements becoming more twitchy as he rushed to finish his instructions.

Draco got up and walked over to the bag Wormtail had dropped, dumping the contents onto the stone floor: a blanket, a change of clothes and a note. Hermione watched him as he unfolded the note, intrigued as to who was sending them something.

He read the note over quickly, looking back up at Wormtail afterwards, "Why did you bring this to us?"

"She told me to," Wormtail squeaked, shaking his head in disapproval for breaking his silence as he got the last new candle lit.

"Who knows where we are?" Hermione asked, to either of them really.

Wormtail ignored her, giving the two one last look as he went to disapparate. Before he could get the chance, Draco grabbed his arm.

"Tell us fucking _something_," Draco said angrily.

"Can't," Wormtail squeaked again, "Stay away," he said, pointing his wand at Draco, who let go of him.

With that, Wormtail quickly disapparated from the room.

"Who's the note from?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"My mother," Draco answered, "She said there's nothing she can do but she threatened Wormtail and made him at least give me something to keep warm."

"How does she know where we are?"

"I'm sure my father has something to do with whatever's going on," Draco said darkly, "At least my mother gives a shit about my wellbeing sometimes."

Hermione nodded, not wanting to put Draco in a worse mood.

Draco threw one of the blankets and fresh robes at Hermione, "Here."

"Thanks," she said quietly.

"Whatever," he responded. He was starting to regret pushing her away again, he could tell she was just scared.

She wrapped herself tightly in the warm blanket, looking over at Draco, who looked deep in thought.

"If you need anything, I'm here," she said, leaning her head against the wall and trying not to watch as Draco pulled off his dirty robes and threw on his fresh ones.

"Right," Draco answered, secretly wishing she would change out of her robes so he could get a glimpse of the body he longed to touch again.

They were both left with their own thoughts as they drifted into an uneasy sleep, Draco, being greeted once again with a dream of Hermione.

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A/N: Sorry for the unreasonable time between updates! Thank you so much to everyone who has left a review, it really means a lot! I'll try to get another chapter up soon!

Please review :)


	11. Overheard in the Dungeons

**Chapter 11: Overheard in the Dungeons**

"_DRACO!" Her voice screamed in panic. He was running; sprinting as fast as he could towards her. Nothing else mattered but her safety. He didn't feel tired, or out of breath; he couldn't feel the muscles throbbing in his legs, or the sweat dripping down his face; he couldn't hear his feet crashing against the ground, or the other voices yelling around him; all he could feel was his heart pounding; all he could hear was her voice._

_He slowed as he came into a clearing, 'She should be right here!' he thought, looking around frantically. He didn't know why she was supposed to be there or where he was, but she was supposed to be here, in the clearing, waiting for him._

"_You won't find her here," his mother stepped out from behind a tree, looking at him worriedly, "I'm sorry, son, they took her."_

"_NO!" he said angrily, "No, she has to be here!"_

"_She's not, Draco. I tried to protect her but there was nothing I could do. She's gone."_

_A blood-curdling scream filled the air and their heads shot up._

"_Do you think—" Draco started, his mind working overtime._

"_It sounds like there's still time, but not much," his mother said, hugging him tightly. She stepped back, "Good luck Draco."_

_He nodded, unable to form words and took off at full speed towards her voice._

_As he approached his new destination, a low, sinister laugh filled his head and everything went black…_

Draco jolted up from his sleep, his heart still pounding. Standing before him was Voldemort.

"I see you've found time for a nap," he said slowly, walking towards him. Draco saw Hermione standing against the opposite wall out of the corner of his eye.

He felt relief, seeing her there, as well as fear and anger towards the wizard in front of him.

Voldemort lifted his wand, "_Crucio_!" he said, watching as Draco fell to the floor, writhing in pain.

"Stop it!" he heard Hermione yell, looking horrified.

Voldemort lifted the curse, turning his wand on her, "_Coangusto,_"he said in a dark whisper.

Draco looked over from where he lay weakly on the ground.

Hermione's eyes bulged slightly and she gasped for breath. She fell to her knees, clutching her throat; he was strangling her. Draco's mind was racing; he had to do something. He tried meekly to push himself off the ground to no avail.

"You're going to kill her!" he said angrily.

Hermione was starting to feel light headed; the need for air was crucial. Her eyes started to cloud over; Draco's terrified face was the last thing she saw before she blacked out completely, falling to the floor.

Voldemort lifted the curse, his lips curling up into a sneer. He turned back towards Draco, "Would that be a problem, young Malfoy… if she were to die?"

"She's all you fucking gave me to keep sane," Draco said, " She didn't even do anything."

"You'll both meet the same end eventually," Voldemort hissed before apparating out of the room.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

"Bella," Lucius greeted her as she closed the door.

"_Draco_," Bellatrix raised her eyebrows at him.

"Right, _Granger_," he corrected himself.

"How's everything going on your end?" Bellatrix asked him, sitting down on one of the desks.

"Professor Trelawney will be next Tuesday after class," he told her, "_He_ wrote me earlier saying to spread it out a little more as to alleviate suspicion."

"I see," Bella nodded, "I got Professor Vector the other day, so I should save Sprout for next week then?"

"Maybe a couple weeks, _He_ didn't specify how long in between would be a good idea, so maybe we should go one per week until further notice."

"Fine," she said, sighing, "This is quite different than I remember it, here at Hogwarts."

"Well, you're in Gryffindor, that certainly changes things," Lucius smirked.

"Yes, it does. All they want to do is sit around and chat all day and everyone is so upbeat and cheery. It's too much."

"Have you learned anything of importance?" Lucius asked.

"Well I have the where-abouts of every member of the Weasley family," Bellatrix stated proudly.

Ginny finally turned the corner where she had seen Hermione walk around a few minutes ago. She had stalled in case Hermione decided to backtrack, since she was, oddly, in the dungeons. Ginny put her ear up to the door, listening closely to see if she could figure out what Hermione was up to.

"Impressive," Lucius said, walking closer to Bellatrix, "You know I remember all the times we used to spend in this room together, Bel-_Granger."_

"Oh, now, I don't think Cissy would like it much if we were recounting old memories," she batted her eyelashes at him, her lips curling up.

"Safe to say she is far away from here," he whispered, running his finger slowly across her cheek.

"I've been waiting a long time for an opportunity like this," Bellatrix whispered back as Lucius swooped down and kissed her roughly.

After a few intense minutes Lucius pulled back, "We should get back, but I look forward to our next meeting. Tuesday night."

Bella watched him, breathing heavily, as he swept off, winking as he left.

Ginny, hearing footsteps coming towards the door, ducked into an alcove and peaked around as Draco Malfoy walked out of the room, straightening his robes and heading towards the Slytherin dormitories. She was so shocked she didn't even have the heart to move as Hermione exited the room a few minutes later, walking unknowingly by Ginny's hiding spot and off towards Gryffindor Tower.

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After a while, Ginny finally moved from the alcove, walked dazedly back up towards the Tower as well. Hermione and _Malfoy?_ How was that even possible? The boys would never speak to her again. Should she tell them? _No_, she shook her head. She obviously had to talk to Hermione first. She would tell her what she heard and allow Hermione to explain.

The thought of it was just so outrageous that she couldn't wrap her head around it. What was there to even explain? Malfoy was their sworn enemy… and it was only a couple weeks into school, how had that changed so quickly?

Before she knew it, she had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Pilfering Pixies" she mumbled. The portrait swung open and she climbed through. She saw Harry and Ron sitting across the room and waved.

"Hey, Gin, come here!" Ron called.

Stuck between wanting to rush upstairs to Hermione's room and not wanting to seem off, she walked over to the boys, "What's up?" she asked.

"Ron was just wondering about your friend Susan, we heard she's dating Seamus now."

"You sound like a bunch of gossiping girls," Ginny laughed.

"Well it's just that Seamus has never fancied anyone before, so we're a bit interested!" Ron said, his ears reddening.

"She's a nice girl," Ginny said, "Very sweet, I can see why he'd be interested in her. I think they were placed as partners together in Herbology. I guess he was really nervous and accidently cut off the wrong leaf of a Tentacula, it nearly strangled him!"

The two boys looked at each other and laughed, "Sounds like Seamus," Harry said.

"Well I'll let you girls talk," Ginny grinned, "I'm going to go upstairs and read for a little bit."

"Alright we'll see you later," Ron said as he turned back to Harry, who gave Ginny a quick kiss before grabbing his quill to re-start on the History of Magic essay.

Ginny let out a deep breath, glad they hadn't suspected anything was wrong. She reached the dormitories and knocked softly on Hermione's door.

"Come in," she heard.

She walked in, closing the door behind her, Hermione was sitting on her bed with her Potions book open, "Yes?" she asked.

"Hey Hermione, I think we should talk. I overheard you and Malfoy talking down in the dungeons earlier…"

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As soon as he had the power to lift himself up and over to Hermione, Draco had wrapped her tightly in a blanket and lay her head on his lap, his own back against the wall. He stroked her hair as he watched her intently, and waited for her to become conscious again.

_What were these dreams?_ He wondered, _And why did they make him feel for this girl the way they did?_ As he looked at her, he genuinely felt connected to her. Even the touch of her skin was intoxicating. He wanted to look deeply into her eyes again, he wanted to kiss her, protect her.

Draco shook his head, _What was he saying?_ Sure, he cared that she was safe, but only because her safety meant his safety at the moment. Maybe that's what the dreams were trying to tell him. He needed to protect her because they were in the same position, and if she died, he would too.

He could feel his exterior shutting itself off angrily; he was acting like some love-struck schoolboy, which he certainly was _not._

Hermione opened her eyes weakly, surprised to find herself breathing steadily, her head resting comfortably on Draco's lap.

She looked up him, smiling weakly. As she was looking at him, she was confused. His fingers were in his hair as though he had been running them through it, and he was looking at her, half passionately, and half coldly; his eyes looking like they were clouding over by the second.

"Malfoy?" she asked groggily.

Draco moved his hand to the stone floor, looking away, "You can probably sit up now."

She sat up, her eyes never leaving him, "Thank you… for taking care of me," she said.

Still in a weird place, Draco gave her a half nod, wanting to both hug her as tightly as he could and get as far away from her as possible.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Fine," he said shortly.

"Can you just tell me what's on your mind?" Hermione asked softly, "I'm not trying to pry, it's just sometimes I feel like you care about me and other times I feel like you wish Voldemort would just finish me off."

Draco felt his chest tighten at the last part, "Of course I don't want him to hurt you," he blurted out, turning towards her.

When their eyes locked, Hermione saw genuine fear at the thought of it and did the only thing she could think of. She pulled him to her and captured his lips with her own. It was fierce, but slow. She could feel the heat rising between them.

Draco let it happen. She pulled him in and there was nothing else he wanted in that moment. Her lips were soft on his, she moaned, barely audibly, into the kiss as she sucked gently on his lower lip before he slipped his tongue into her mouth, massaging hers.

Hermione shifted swiftly, straddling him.

Draco tried to snap back to reality, the angry part of him pulling on her hair as the other part of him ran his hands lustfully over her body. Her bare skin was electrifying; so warm against the cool air.

Hermione breathed sharply as he pulled her hair. Ignited, she ran her hands through his hair, pulling on it lightly and battling back against his tongue.

Draco could feel himself getting hotter with the passion between them. Angry at himself for letting this go on as long as it had, he pushed her off of him. She fell back against the wall, panting.

Draco stood up, walking briskly to the other side of the room to cool down.

Hermione, shocked, stood up and walked over to him, annoyed, "No, not this time," she said, spinning him around and crashing her lips back onto his hungrily.

Draco felt, once again, the passion wash over him and he picked her up, she wrapped her legs around his waist and he slammed her back against a wall, his hands fumbling around the bottom of her shirt.

Hermione bit his lip and he pushed his tongue roughly into her mouth in response.

His hands roamed under her shirt, her stomach was warm and soft as he moved his hands higher.

Hermione let her nails grip Draco's back; never in her life had she had a moment like this. She felt an animalistic sense of passion where everything was spontaneous and new, and it all felt so right.

Draco moved his lips to her neck, sucking gently at her skin, wanting nothing more than to rip her clothes off and give it to her right there on the stone floor.

Hermione felt him push his hips into hers and she moaned, throwing her head back.

Draco smirked, "You want it, don't you?" he whispered in her ear.

Hermione didn't say anything; she simply ran her nails down his back.

A loud *POP* broke the two apart, Hermione catching herself against the wall as Draco jumped about two feet back.

Wormtail looked at the two suspiciously.

"WE WERE ARGUING," Draco yelled as a defense to the accusing look, infuriated and still full of passion.

Wormtail jumped a little, dropping a new backpack and setting down two plates of food before quickly apparating from the room.

Still breathing heavily, Draco and Hermione looked over at each other.

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A/N: I hope you all enjoyed that chapter! Pleassse review, they mean the world to me :]

To everyone who has been reviewing, thank you so so much!

Jenny


	12. Caught Up

**Disclaimer: I own nada.**

**Chapter 12: Caught Up**

* * *

_Draco moved his lips to her neck, sucking gently at her skin, wanting nothing more than to rip her clothes off and give it to her right there on the stone floor._

_Hermione felt him push his hips into hers and she moaned, throwing her head back._

_Draco smirked, "You want it, don't you?" he whispered in her ear._

_Hermione didn't say anything, she simply ran her nails down his back in response. _

_A loud *POP* broke the two apart, Hermione catching herself against the wall as Draco jumped about two feet back._

_Wormtail looked at the two suspiciously._

"_WE WERE ARGUING," Draco yelled as a defense to the accusing look, infuriated and still full of passion._

_Wormtail jumped a little, dropping a new backpack and setting down two plates of food before quickly apparating from the room._

_Still breathing heavily, Draco and Hermione looked over at each other._

* * *

Both still frozen where they had landed after Wormtail's intrusion, a heavy tension filled the air. Hermione's mind was racing, she wanted to jump back onto him and finish what they had started, but she had gotten lost in her own world and forgotten that they were still in their prison, vulnerable to intruders.

After a moment Draco finally opened his mouth, "Could have been the bloody Dark Lord!" he exclaimed, his heart still pounding.

Hermione just nodded, incapable of forming coherent sentences.

Without another second's hesitation, Draco closed the gap between them and kissed her soundly, holding her shoulders in his grip before taking a deliberate step back. Before Hermione could even open her eyes he was across the room, leaning back against the wall.

"Right… so… not the time nor place," Hermione breathed, trying to regain her composure.

"You need to stay over there," Draco said firmly. Before she could reply, Draco locked his eyes with hers, they were not cold anymore, as they had been returning to on a normal basis over the last few days, they were almost pleading.

Hermione took a step closer.

"No, no no no," Draco said, a real smile playing at his lips, "If you come a step closer I'm going to rip every article of clothing off of your body and do every little thing to you that I have in my head right now."

"…Is that supposed to be a threat, or a promise?" Hermione finally responded, not sure whether or not to laugh.

"When I finally get a chance to finish… that… it's not going to be on a dungeon floor," Draco said, "And for some reason, you're driving me fucking crazy, so we both need to cool off and you need to stay put."

Hermione let out an exasperated sigh and collapsed against the wall, closing her eyes.

Draco grabbed the backpack that Wormtail had left for him and turned it upside down; A pillow, some Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, and a book called _Francis Finglehart's Whimsical Fables._ Draco cocked is head to the side at the last item.

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"Hold on," Draco said as he opened up the note from his mother:

_Draco_

_I hope you're alright, wherever you are. I just keep thinking of little things I could get Wormtail to deliver that give me a slight piece of mind that you're comfortable, as much of a joke as that may be right now. However, Wormtail says you're alive and that's all that keeps me going._

_Also, I sent along the only book not relating to the dark arts that I could find in our library. I think I got it when you were just a baby._

_Love,_

_Narcissa_

"Well I've got some light reading for you," Draco said, sliding the worn book across the floor with a grin.

Hermione picked it up and chuckled, "What is this all about?"

"Apparently that was the only normal book my mother could find in our house… I'm not surprised," Draco said as he got up to grab a plate of food.

"Look, we even get sandwiches today! My mother must be paying off Wormtail or something."

Hermione's eyes shot up, "Really?" she said eagerly, realizing how hungry she was.

Draco brought her over the other plate and returned to his seat across the room.

Neither spoke while they devoured their meals, they had been getting one meal a day since they had arrived, a sandwich was, by far, the most gourmet cooking they had received thus far.

Setting down her empty plate, Hermione pulled her sweater off again to lay down.

"Here," Draco said, throwing the pillow over to her.

"Don't you want that?" she asked.

"I'm not tired right now, still trying to clear my head," he winked at her.

"Okay, well if you want to join me…" she drifted off.

Draco smirked, "Can't get you all worked up again already."

Hermione rolled her eyes and lay down while Draco opened up a box of the Bertie Botts beans and fixed his gaze lazily on the wall.

* * *

Ginny knocked loudly on Hermione's door until Bellatrix answered.

" Yes?" She asked in a sweet voice as she gritted her teeth.

"We need to talk. Now," Ginny responded, walking into the room and pulling Bellatrix behind her. Ginny pulled the hangings around Hermione's bed shut as she sat down.

"I saw you with Malfoy," she said pointedly.

"I—you—what?" Bellatrix said, trying to buy some time to think.

"Is that who you've been sneaking around with?" Ginny asked, ignoring her.

"No—I mean, we're not sneaking around. He's… my partner. In potions. You can even ask the boys!" she responded, feeling a little relieved that somehow her and Lucius had ended up as Potions partners, apparently due to a row Draco and Hermione had on the first day of class.

"Oh yeah? Then why was he fixing his robes when he left the room. I saw how disheveled his hair was," Ginny crossed her arms.

"We were just fighting! You know I can't stand him. Always strutting around…" she tried.

"No, don't lie to me. I heard you saying how you were happy you had the _opportunity_, and he said he looked _forward_ to seeing you. Tell me what's really going on," Ginny said, a hard look in her eye.

"Fine—" Bellatrix sputtered, "We're dating."

"How long?"

"Couple weeks."

"How?"

"Potions partners… we've had to spend a lot of time locked up in a room together."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because you all hate him!"

Ginny and Bellatrix sat staring at each other for a long moment.

_Why do I have to deal with this,_ Bellatrix thought, partially ashamed that she had been caught in a lie already.

"Are you going to tell the boys?" Ginny asked.

"Please don't tell them," Bellatrix begged, "I will, I just don't feel like it's time yet."

Ginny stood up, "Fine. But I'm not covering for you."

"Are you going to stay mad at me?" Bellatrix asked, she didn't want any hitches in her plans to get close to Harry Potter's friends.

"Of course not," Ginny replied, her tone still harsh, "But right now I'm frustrated."

"Okay… well I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I just wasn't ready yet."

"You shouldn't have lied, either," Ginny said, sighing, "I'm going to bed, we'll talk tomorrow."

"Goodnight," Bellatrix said as Ginny walked out of the room.

Annoyed, Bellatrix dressed for bed, sending an owl to Lucius quickly to let him know he should let up on the name calling a little bit and that she would explain the next day.

* * *

Draco repositioned himself again, his neck feeling stiffer than it had in days. He looked over at Hermione, who was resting quietly.

A loud *POP* filled the room and Hermione jolted out of her sleep as Draco jumped to his feet.

Voldemort walked pointedly over to Hermione, "Tell me his weakness," he hissed.

"What?" Hermione breathed, backing up against the wall.

"Tell me what you know. There is something about him that I cannot break," Voldemort said, his eyes gleaning with anger.

"I don't know anything," Hermione said as loudly as she could, trying to hold eye contact.

"_Internum Ardere!" _Voldemort roared, pointing his wand a Hermione.

Hermione let out a blood-curdling scream as she fell to her knees. She felt as if she were burning alive. The pain tore at her as she blindly groped at her arms, wishing to have the fire put out.

"Stop!" she exclaimed, "Make it stop!"

Draco ran towards her, but Voldemort flicked his wand and Draco flew back hard against the wall.

"Tell me something," Voldemort said quietly.

Hermione screamed again, rolling on the cold stone floor, her head feeling as if it were about it burst. She could see the images in front of her fading.

"She has nothing to tell you!" Draco yelled.

Voldemort lifted the curse and turned on Draco, "Vulnus," he brought his wand across Draco's cheek. The skin Voldemort touched split open, leaving a searing gash across his face.

Draco cried out, clutching the wound and falling back against the wall.

"Don't interrupt me Mr. Malfoy," he said through clenched teeth, "At no point will you be my concern unless you make yourself. Simply stay out of my way."

Aggravated, Voldemort disapparated from the room.

Blood dripped down Draco's face as his eyes darted over to Hermione, who was heaving in the corner.

"Granger!" he said, wincing at the pain that was spreading through his face.

She couldn't answer; she couldn't move; she couldn't think. She was wide awake but so crippled from the torture she had just endured that she lay still, crumpled in a heap on the floor.

Draco walked over to her, their eyes locking. All he could see was pain and true fear looking back at him.

"Can you hear me?" he asked slowly.

She blinked, her mouth parting slightly, but no sound came out.

Draco crossed the room and grabbed the glass of water that was left by Wormtail earlier.

"Here, drink some of this," he said, sitting down next to her.

She weakly turned her head, her hand twitching as if to grab the glass.

Draco lifted her into a sitting position; her body felt limp and she gasped in pain.

Draco helped her to take a few sips of water before she pushed it away, "Rest," she said inaudibly.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Better," she answered, her lips only moving slightly.

"What… what did he hit you with? What did that curse do?" he asked, helping her to lay back on the pillow. Her strength was slowly coming back as she curled her legs and flexed her fingers.

"Fire," she responded, "Felt consumed by flames."

Draco clenched his fist in anger, pulling the blanket up over her. Hermione closed her eyes, letting out a deep breath.

"Rest. Get your strength back," he said quietly, wiping the blood off his face and leaning back. He felt enraged and there was nothing he could do; nothing but sit on this dusty floor, his expression as stone cold as their dungeon.

* * *

A/N: I'm baaaaaaaack... again. Gonna do my best to update this because I really want to finish this story. Please please please review and let me know what you think! That would be lovely encouragement :)

More plot coming in the next post but I wanted to get something out there and rekindle the story! xo


	13. Rising Tensions

Disclaimer: Unfortunately Harry Potter is on the list of things I don't own.

Chapter 13: Tensions

* * *

Early the next morning, Bellatrix rolled out of bed and went to meet Lucius to explain what was going on. She closed the door behind her as she walked into the Transfiguration room. Lucius was not there yet so she sat down on one of the desks to wait for him. She tried to sit as seductively as she could, her robes pushed to the side to show a sliver of Hermione's skin. She unbuttoned the top button as a last minute thought and then sat back, trying to look relaxed and cool. After another minute Lucius entered the room, a smirk forming on his face when he saw her.

"Good morning," she said coyly.

"Fancy meeting you here," he drawled, walking up to her. He placed a hand on her leg, moving it slowly upwards, "You wanted to talk business?"

"We've found ourselves in quite a… predicament, _Draco_," Bellatrix said innocently as Lucius continued moving closer to her, his mouth inches from her neck.

"Oh yes, we most certainly have, _Granger_" he whispered against her skin. He placed a soft kiss on her neck before swiftly moving back, leaving her feeling like she could beg for more.

"Unfortunately, we have breakfast to attend," he winked at her, waiting for her to explain the situation.

She sighed heavily, "The Weasley girl heard us the other night, she thinks Draco and the Mudblood are dating."

"Did you tell her otherwise?" He asked.

"Of course I did but she didn't believe me… she heard the, _hem_, end of our conversation as well," Bellatrix elaborated.

"Ah," Lucius responded, "So it seems we're dating then."

"Yes but I begged her not to tell the boys, I still need to get close to them, and having the Mudblood date a Slytherin would not make them very happy."

"A fair point."

"But I thought I should tell you so you don't insult me as much around the girl, now that I need Ginny to believe they don't hate each other."

"I will work that into act," Lucius nodded, "I think it's time we get to breakfast, Bella, it's getting late."

"Yes, of course," Bellatrix responded, "You go, I'll wait a few minutes so no one sees us coming in together."

"Until next time," Lucius said with a final, lustful glance as he left the room.

Bellatrix watched after him, biting her lip, it had been so long since they had been together; she didn't know how long she could restrain herself.

* * *

Draco was pacing slowly back and forth in the dungeon, his hands behind his back. Periodically he would look over at Hermione, who was sleeping soundly in the corner. It had been hours since the Dark Lord's visit, maybe even half a day. Hermione had woken up twice, but was still too weak to do anything but take a few sips of water and carefully switch her position.

Draco's mind was currently stuck at Hogwarts. Had anyone figured out they were missing yet? It seemed obvious at this point that someone must be there in their place, but Blaise _must_ have realized it wasn't him… or at least he would eventually.

"Malfoy?" Hermione said quietly, breaking through his thoughts.

He walked over to her, sitting down, "How are you doing?"

"Alright," Hermione responded, using all of her energy to push herself up into a sitting position, "How long have I been out?"

"A while," Draco said, handing the glass of water to her, "But that's good, I'm sure your body needed to recuperate."

"What have you been doing?" she asked, feeling better than she had all day.

"Just thinking," he said, "Mostly about Hogwarts." Draco sat back against the wall, closing his eyes; he had been too on edge since Hermione had fallen asleep to really rest.

Hermione sighed, "Don't you think they'd notice… soon?"

"Yeah, I mean how long can someone else portray us without our friends realizing the truth?" he thought out loud.

"Harry and Ron are sure to figure it out," Hermione said strongly.

"Yes, I'm sure your little _boyfriend_ will come save you," he bit.

"Stop it," Hermione rolled her eyes.

"What, aren't you going to run back to him when you get back?" Draco still hadn't opened his eyes.

"Where is this coming from?" Hermione said, exasperated.

"Let's be honest, Granger, I'm sure you've been daydreaming about the Ginger taking you to Madam Puddifoot's."

"Maybe last year, or this summer," she allowed, "But it's safe to say I haven't been thinking about _Ron_ very much since we've been here other than the way I've been thinking about Harry… or Ginny."

"Right, but I'm sure once the distractions of torture are out of the way, it'll be all unicorns and rainbows for you."

"What is wrong with you?" Hermione said, getting annoyed with Draco's demeanor.

"I'm sure you could name a hundred things wrong with me, Granger, especially when you relay all of the stories from the dungeon back to your friends when we get out of here."

Hermione grabbed his arm and Draco looked over at her coldly, "I'm sorry, but did something happen while I was passed out, because I'm pretty sure before Voldemort was here, everything was just fine between us."

"It's all temporary, Granger. Every part of this is temporary," Draco removed her hand from his arm and got up, settling himself across the room, "Now that I'm reassured that you're alright, I'm going to finally get some rest."

Hermione's mouth was left hanging open as Draco crossed his arms and closed his eyes. Lost for anything remotely comprehensible to say, she angrily looked around for something to take her mind off of their conversation. She grabbed the book of fables that lay next to the pillow and ripped it open to the first story; reading was sure to do the trick.

* * *

"Hey Hermione!" Ron jumped up from the Gryffindor table as Bellatrix walked over to.

"Good morning," she responded, hardly noticing him as she grabbed a roll and say down next to Harry.

"Could I talk to you for a moment?" Ron asked, still awkwardly standing next to her.

"Uh, yeah, sure," she looked around, confused, before standing up and following him out of the Great Hall.

Once away from everyone else, he turned around to face her, "_GoHogsmeadewithme_?" he blurted out.

"What?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Well, I know we all always go together—you, me, Harry, Gin," he was speaking very quickly, "But I thought, ya know, maybe it would be nice to just… uh… go together… the two of us, hang out, get lunch?"

Ron was visibly nervous, his hands hanging by his side.

"Oh," _Shit_, she thought, trying to figure out how to respond, she was supposed to like Ron, but also be 'dating' Draco. However, when it came down to it, Harry and Ron were her first priorities for her task, "Yes, of course I'll go with you," she finally said.

A smile spread across his blushed face, "Great," he breathed, "Well you can go finish up breakfast, I'm going to run back to the Tower before class starts."

Ron looked as if he wasn't sure how he should end their conversation as he rocked back and forth on his feet.

"Right, I'll see you in class," Bellatrix nodded, swiftly turning on her heel and walking back to breakfast.

"Oy, Drake!" Blaise called as Lucius walked up to the Slytherin table.

"Morning," Lucius responded, sitting down next to him.

Blaise lowered his head, "Pansy came looking for you this morning," he said quietly.

"What did she want?" Lucius asked.

"She said she dropped by to see what time you wanted to leave for Hogsmeade tomorrow… she looked pretty pleased with herself," he rolled her eyes.

"Oh," Lucius said, forgetting about his prior obligation.

"Are you planning on standing her up?" Blaise asked, "I mean honestly I wouldn't blame you."

"No," Lucius said with a shrug, "No I'm just going to see what she wants."

Blaise shook his head, "I don't know what you're on about, but whatever you want, mate. Let me know how it goes."

The boys continued eating in silence until it was time for class. The Great Hall cleared and Dumbledore looked on thoughtfully as his students dispersed, his gaze set mostly on Draco and Hermione.

The sixth years waited outside of the transfiguration room for Professor McGonagall before class started.

"Ron, I just don't think the Canons are going to make it this year," Harry said, turning the page of his _Quality Quidditch_ magazine. Oliver Wood repeatedly jumped off his broomstick to make a spectacular save as Harry read on about the upcoming match between the Chudley Canons and the Wimbourne Wasps.

"That's rubbish, they don't know what they're talking about Harry," Ron shook his head, "They've drafted a whole new set of chasers. Personally, I think McGastly was worth a four player trade all on his own."

"I still think it's pretty neat that Wood went to the Wasps," Lavender cut into their conversation, batting her eyelashes at Ron.

"Right, Wood's great, but honestly I don't think he'll stand a chance against McGastly, he creates his own moves!" Ron said, not picking up Lavender's attempt at flirting.

"Can you family afford a radio now, Weasley?" Lucius said loudly over the crowd.

Ron's ears went pink as he balled his fists, "Bugger off, Malfoy," he said through clenched teeth.

"Probably a nice break your mother gets from having to pay to feed you all, while you're at school."

"Malfoy, back _off_," Bellatrix drawled, trying to sound offended.

"Sorry—" Lucius started to say before realizing it, "Sorry he can't fight his own battles," he corrected himself.

"Alright all of you, into class," McGonagall herded them along as she walked into the room.

"Just because your father will pay off anyone to win your battles doesn't mean you're the best around," Ron shot back.

"I think I'd rather have my father on my side then your pathetic excuse for a father," Lucius spat.

"That. Is. ENOUGH." McGonagall said sternly looking between the boys as the class looked on intensely.

"You will both serve detention tonight at 8:00. There are quite a few trophies to shine. Perhaps looking at the names of bright young students will give you something to strive for instead of resorting to juvenile bickering."

Ron sputtered, but Lucius simply bit his tongue, knowing he'd gone too far with a professor around.

"Everyone, please escort yourselves inside, _now,_" Professor McGonagall directed, turning around and walking to the head of the room to start the morning's class.

* * *

A/N: Look how fast I updated! Let's make a deal, lots of reviews for another quick update :D? I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please please let me know what you think and if people are still interested in the story, I know I started it a very very long time ago!

Thank you so much to everyone who has read the story so far, it's a great feeling to be writing again :) xo


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